Avacta Group Regulatory News (AVCT)

7 Aug 2009 07:00

Avacta Group plc Pre-close Trading Update

Avacta Group plc ("Avacta" or the "Company"), the biophysics company which provides innovative high value technologies and services to the pharmaceutical and diagnostics markets, is pleased to announce a trading update for the year ended 31 July 2009.

The second half of the year saw the launch of Optim, Avacta's flagship product. Optim is a revolutionary bench top instrument which provides drug developers with vital information at an early stage of the drug development process and has the potential to dramatically reduce the overall cost of bringing drugs to market. Avacta has received strong positive response from its initial sales and marketing activity and has consequently developed a validated pipeline of lead customers that support its sales targets for FY2010.

The coming months will see further commercial promotion of Optim with a number of in-house demonstrations at customer sites and forthcoming trade exhibitions. In addition, in keeping with the Company's transition towards commercial product sales, the Company has appointed a Sales and Marketing Director with considerable sector experience and a specific mandate to drive sales of Optim and Avacta's widely regarded analytical services.

The recently acquired YorkTest Veterinary Services has been successfully integrated into Avacta's York base with sales 14% up on the same period last year despite the current poor economic climate. YorkTest Veterinary services has now changed its name to Avacta Animal Health to underline the aggressive plans for expansion of this business beyond its historical core testing services. As part of this expansion, Avacta Animal Health has just launched a new genetic test and is working with the Avacta product development team on the new rapid diagnostic product, Midas, which is expected to launch late in 2009 as planned.

Avacta's trace gas analysis technology is also advancing. A prototype product was delivered to an industry partner this week following successful testing at Avacta's Oxford site, thus paving the way for the industry partner to develop a production model. The successful integration of Oxford Medical Diagnostics into the Avacta Group will be completed this summer as the team in Oxford move to the York site.

A full review of developments and achievements across Avacta's two target markets and multiple product offerings will be provided at the time of the preliminary results expected in October. In the meantime Avacta continues to seek further consolidating acquisitions to establish the Company as a significant provider of products and services to support businesses in the Life Sciences sector.

7 August 2009Enquiries:Avacta Group plc Tel: 0870 835 4367 Alastair Smith, Chief Executive www.avacta.com Officer Haggie Financial LLP Tel: 020 7417 8989 Kathy Boate Kathy.boate@haggie.co.uk Nominated Adviser: Tel: 020 7776 6550 Daniel Stewart & Company Plc Charlotte Stranner/Simon Leathers Novum Securities Limited Tel: 020 7562 4700 Henry Turcan Notes to Editors:About Avacta

Avacta was spun-out from the University of Leeds in 2004 by its current management team as a biophysics company, with the aim of combining the disciplines of physics and biology to develop innovative technologies and expert technical services to address needs in the pharmaceutical, defence and clinical diagnostics markets. Avacta has a core bio-analytical technology development programme addressing the needs of the biopharmaceutical sector to fully characterise their new products at the earliest stage in their development to reduce the risk of late stage failure. High value solutions in defence and clinical diagnostics are also being provided by these core bio-analytical technologies. A successful and growing part of the Avacta business model is its technical services arm, Avacta Analytical Ltd, which is focused on providing leading edge contract research to the biopharmaceutical and healthcare/personal-care materials sectors. Avacta listed on AIM in August 2006.