AcouSort AB - Interim Report for the period July – September 2023
Third quarter 2023 for the Group
Net sales amounted to SEK 1,121,000 (326,000)
Result before tax amounted to SEK -4,303,000 (-4,250,000)
Result per share* was SEK -0.33 (-0.32)
Equity ratio** amounted to 53% (89%) on September 30, 2023
Third quarter 2023 for the Parent company
Net sales amounted to SEK 1,121,000 (326,000)
Result before tax amounted to SEK -3,609,000 (-4,219,000)
Result per share* was SEK -0.27 (-0.32)
Equity ratio** amounted to 61% (89%) on September 30, 2023
Significant events during the third quarter
On July 5, AcouSort announces that the cell therapy collaboration with a leading global life science company continues to expand. The partnering company has ordered an evaluation setup with the aim to in more detail explore the robustness and adaptability of AcouSort’s AcouWash technology.
On August 7, AcouSort announces that the company has been invited to give a lecture at the Acoustofluidics conference, an international event gathering researchers working with all different aspects of acoustofluidics and its applications within life sciences.
On September 1, AcouSort announces that the company has delivered an AcouTrap system to Karolinska Institutet to be used for automated isolation and wash of stem cells as part of the successful IndiCell project.
On September 14, AcouSort announces that the company has been selected to participate in the yearly NIH Research Festival arranged by the prestigious American National Institute of Health (NIH).
On September 29, AcouSort announces that the company will exhibit and present its technology in two poster presentations at the international conference µTAS 2023.
Significant events after the end of the period
On October 16, AcouSort announces that the company has delivered a test system for automated cell handling within cell therapy as part of the company’s collaboration with a global life science partner. The partner will now evaluate the system and investigate a potential integration into their new cell therapy production system.
On October 25, AcouSort announces that the company has published proof-of-concept data demonstrating that the newly developed high-throughput test system meets important requirements for cell therapy applications.
CEO COMMENTS
Strategic break-through is coming closer
The third quarter of 2023 proved to be yet another quarter of intense activity and significant progress in our key commercial areas diagnostics and cell therapy. Total income in the quarter amounted to SEK 2.16 (1.33) million. For the first nine months of the year, total income amounted to SEK 9.37 (5.82) million, corresponding to a growth of 61% compared to last year.
Diagnostics – we are close to achieving a strategic goal
AcouSort’s ultimate strategic goal is to become an OEM partner to leading life science companies. We are now close to achieving this goal with a partner active within the diagnostic field. Our technology has successfully been integrated in our partnering company’s new diagnostics system, which received FDA approval earlier this year. AcouSort will report on all further progress in this very exciting project.
Strategic collaboration with academia. In the quarter, we saw a continued growing interest for our benchtop research systems, and in September, we delivered an AcouWash system to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Porto, Portugal. This placement was the fifth AcouWash system placed this year. The AcouWash system delivered to Portugal will be used in a research project which aims to develop new methods to isolate, detect and characterize cancer cells in urine samples, which in turn may be an important step towards developing novel diagnostic tools.
Cell therapy – collaboration reaches significant milestone
In October, our collaboration with a global life science company reached a significant milestone with the delivery of a test system for cell therapy processing. The system is operating according to the partnering company’s requirements with the intention to be integrated into a new automated cell therapy production system designed by our partner. The potential integration of our technology into the new cell therapy production system will now be evaluated. Over the coming months, AcouSort will continue discussions with the partnering company to define the next steps of the collaboration. The continued collaboration constitutes a very important step towards the development of OEM components to the partnering company’s future cell therapy products and instruments.
Strategic collaboration with academia. Since 2021, AcouSort has been active in the Vinnova funded IndiCell project which aims to enable the transfer of novel stem cell treatments from research to a clinical setting. In the quarter, AcouSort finalized the application development and has installed an AcouTrap system at Karolinska Institutet (KI). The new application will be used to isolate and wash stem cells before they are used for injections. The system at KI will be used throughout the remainder of the project to automate the isolation and wash of stem cells used in the research efforts to develop new stem cell-based therapies.
Intense marketing of the new AcouTrap system
In the spring of this year, AcouSort launched the third generation of the AcouTrap system – a benchtop research instrument for automated sample preparation of cells, extracellular vesicles, bacteria, and viruses. Since the launch, AcouSort has experienced a growing interest in this unique product, and at the beginning of October, AcouSort’s Commercial Director Agnes Michanek travelled to the US to team up with Kelley Intehar, our Sales Director North America for an AcouTrap demo tour.
During the demo tour, visits were paid to customers interested in both cell and extracellular vesicle isolation as well as virus isolation. Even though the new AcouTrap is designed to be a dedicated research instrument, the product and its technology are fully OEM compatible. Considering the interest over the past months, we are planning further demo travels in November and December to meet up with more research groups interested in evaluating the company’s unique technology.
Spreading the word
AcouSort is not yet a household name in our industry, and one of our strategic initiatives is to spread the word of our company and our unique technology on the global arena. One of the most effective ways of doing this is to participate in international conferences and congresses. The past quarter was very intense also in this respect with participation in Acoustofluidics 2023, a conference dedicated to exploring the science, the engineering, and the use of micro and nanoscale acoustofluidics; µTAS 2023, an international conference on miniaturized systems for chemistry and life sciences; and the prestigious NIH Research Festival where we hosted a 45-minute workshop demonstrating the Company’s technology in more detail.
Torsten Freltoft – CEO
ACOUSORT AB
The report is attached below and can also be found at https://acousort.com/investor/financial-reports/
For further information on AcouSort, please contact:
Torsten Freltoft, CEO
Telephone: +45 2045 0854
E-mail: torsten.freltoft@acousort.com
About AcouSort
AcouSort AB (corporate registration number 556824-1037) is an innovative technology company focusing on developing products and solutions for integrated preparation of biological samples. With the help of sound waves, the company's products can separate blood cells, concentrate, purify and stain cells, exosomes and bacteria from biological samples. The technology of the company's products is acoustofluidics, where sound waves and microfluidics enable automated handling of samples in a range of application areas, from research on new biomarkers to the development of new diagnostic systems for near-patient testing – so-called Point-of Care (POC) systems. The company's commercialization strategy is based on the already proven business model of providing separation modules to diagnostic system manufacturers for integrated sample preparation as well as to continue the commercialization of the company's research instruments. With the help of the company's products and development of point-of-care tests, new diagnostic systems and treatments are enabled, addressing some of the most challenging disease areas of our time: cancer, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases. AcouSort is listed at Nasdaq First North Growth Market. The company’s Certified Adviser is Erik Penser Bank.