Polarean shares down despite narrowed annual loss and optimism

(Alliance News) - Polarean Imaging PLC shares were down on Friday despite slimming its annual loss, as the company said it now will focus on gaining commercial traction and exploring further financing for its newly US Food & Drug Administration-approved Xenoview device.

Shares in Polarean were down 4.1% at 22.30 pence in London on Friday morning.

The London-based medical imaging technology company reported a pretax loss of USD13.9 million in 2022, compared with USD14.3 million the prior year.

Revenue also decreased by 13% to USD1.0 million from USD1.2 million. Cost of sales increased 1.1% to USD684,732 from USD677,402.

Administrative expenses also rose 1.1% to USD8.5 million from USD6.5 million. Depreciation increased 56% to USD277,461 from USD177,349 while amortisation increased 0.5% to USD760,780 from USD757,016.

Selling and distribution expenses, however, decreased 40% to USD3.3 million from USD5.6 million. Share-based payment expenses decreased 34% to USD1.2 million from USD1.8 million. Overall, total operating costs fell by 5.4% to USD14.0 million from USD14.8 million.

In late December, Polarean announced that the US Food & Drug Administration had approved its Xenoview drug combination device. In April, the company said it received its first order for a gas blend cylinder to produce Xenoview from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, where the first clinical scan using Xenoview technology was conducted.

In early May, Polarean was shortlisted for the Breakthrough of the Year Award at the European Mediscience Awards 2023. Other nominees included Destiny Pharma PLC and Kooth PLC.

Going forward, Polarean said that following the FDA approval, it now intends to focus on gaining commercial traction and engaging with potential corporate partners. It will then explore options for additional financing to advance further development of its polariser system and software.

"We ended the year with a tremendous positive in receiving our FDA approval for Xenoview. This was a long road culminating with the decision we were looking for, and an extraordinary amount of work went into this process from the entire team," said Chief Executive Officer Richard Hullihen.

"We have now begun to roll out Xenoview for clinical use and expect to see further hospitals adopt doing clinical Xenoview scans in the coming months. We also continue to explore potential future applications for our technology and remain positive for the year ahead."

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter

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