LONDON (Alliance News) - Bioventix PLC Monday said pretax profit rose in the first half of its financial year thanks to higher sales of its vitamin D antibody product, and it is optimistic that revenue from the product will continue to grow as more products based on it reach the market.
The biotechnology firm posted a pretax profit of GBP1.3 million for the six months to end-December, up from GBP975,305 a year earlier, as revenue rose to GBP1.9 million from GBP1.5 million on the back of increased sales of its vitD3.5H10 product, helped by more customer product launches in the US.
It proposed an interim dividend of 11 pence, up from 9.6 pence a year before.
The company said that there has been significant growth in the volume of vitamin D tests at hospitals and clinics in the US and elsewhere on the back of medical research linking low vitamin D levels to bone fractures and other key health measures.
However, Bioventix said, there are experts who argue that vitamin D testing and supplementation has not yet actually been demonstrated to be of overall patient benefit.
"There is ongoing research around the world to investigate this area of medicine further and those involved in the vitamin D field - such as Bioventix - will continue to monitor the evolution of the science with interest," the company said in a statement.
Shares in Bioventix are trading up 4.7% at 885.00 pence Monday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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