28 Sep 2021 07:00
Yourgene Health plc
("Yourgene" or the "Group" or the "Company")
AGM Statement
Investor presentation
Manchester, UK - 28 September 2021: Yourgene (AIM: YGEN), a leading international molecular diagnostic group, will be holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at 4:00pm today. In-person registration for this meeting is now closed due to COVID-19 protocols in place but investors can still attend via the Investor Meet Company website as described at the end of this notice.
At the meeting Adam Reynolds, Non-executive Chairman, will make the following statement:
"I am delighted to welcome longstanding and recent shareholders to our Annual General Meeting. Despite the eventful backdrop since our last AGM and as described in our recent results announcement, the business has enjoyed improved momentum and evolved its service offering significantly within both of our Genomic Services and Genomic Technologies business segments. The Company now finds itself at a very exciting juncture with record business activity levels in Genomic Services, including our UK COVID-19 testing service, and a growing pipeline of opportunities in Genomic Technologies, especially in the North American market where travel is now thankfully reopening. The combination of these growth drivers is expected to deliver first half-year revenues to 30 September 2021 of at least £15m. This compares favourably to the first half in the prior year of £8.2m and full year 2020-21 revenues of £18.3m.
"The reopening of UK-US travel is a very welcome development. It allows Yourgene's UK-based capabilities to be more fully deployed to assist our growing North American team, as they develop their partnerships with leading diagnostic majors and build on the recently announced contract wins in March and June 2021. The acquisition of Coastal Genomics in August 2020 has proven a catalyst for these partnerships and we look forward to working with our Canadian colleagues on a face-to-face basis for the first time in the coming months. The Ranger® sample preparation technology acquired with Coastal continues to be an important differentiator in helping to support our North American new business development.
"No-one can be sure of the trajectory for PCR COVID testing, as witnessed by recent news on changing UK travel protocols, but currently PCR testing remains the gold standard and Yourgene's participation in domestic testing through the National Microbiology Framework and private channels give us an outstanding position to participate fully in this important national endeavour. We are now operating at our previously announced capacity of 100,000 tests per month and have now doubled that capacity in anticipation of continued growth in sample numbers.
"Our long-term strategy remains to build an international molecular diagnostics business of scale, and we have plans to redeploy COVID-generated funds into further enhancing our core Genomic Service and Genomic Technology business streams. We are maintaining a conservative approach to forecast guidance regarding COVID testing and other revenue, but will provide further updates as appropriate, as the second half progresses."
Following the formal business of the AGM, the Company's CEO, Lyn Rees, will provide shareholders with a short presentation via the Investor Meet Company platform and there will be an opportunity for investors to submit questions. Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and register for the Yourgene Health meeting via: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/yourgene-health-plc/register-investor
The presentation recording and responses to investor questions will be made available on the Investor Meet Company platform at the earliest opportunity.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulation. The Directors of the Company take responsibility for this announcement.
Yourgene Health plc Lyn Rees, Chief Executive Officer | Tel: +44 (0)161 669 8122 investors@yourgene-health.com | |||
Barry Hextall, Chief Financial Officer | ||||
Joanne Cross, Director of Marketing | ||||
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (NOMAD) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7213 0880 | |||
Liam Murray / James Caithie / Ludovico Lazzaretti |
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Singer Capital Markets (Joint Corporate Broker) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7496 3000 | |||
Aubrey Powell / Tom Salvesen / George Tzimas | ||||
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Joint Corporate Broker) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7710 7600 | |||
Nicholas Moore / Matthew Blawat / Ben Maddison | ||||
Walbrook PR Ltd (Media and Investor Relations) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7933 8780 or yourgene@walbrookpr.com | |||
Paul McManus / Lianne Cawthorne | Mob: 07980 541 893 / Mob: 07584 391 303 | |||
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About Yourgene Health plc
Yourgene Health is an international molecular diagnostics group which develops and commercialises genomic services and technologies. The group works in partnership with global leaders in DNA technology to advance diagnostic science.
Yourgene primarily develops, manufactures, and commercialises simple and accurate molecular diagnostic solutions, for reproductive health, precision medicine and infectious diseases. The Group's flagship in vitro diagnostic products include non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) for Down's Syndrome and other genetic disorders, Cystic Fibrosis screening tests, invasive rapid aneuploidy tests and DPYD genotyping.
Yourgene has a range of innovative DNA sample preparation platforms, powered by Ranger® Technology, the Yourgene LightBench® and Yourgene QS250, ideal for cell-free DNA applications in NIPT and oncology including liquid biopsy.
Yourgene Genomic Services is a global laboratory service network equipped to be a full life-cycle partner for clinical, research and pharmaceutical organisations to support partners at the preclinical, clinical, and post-market stages to develop, manufacture, obtain regulatory approval and commercialise new products and services. In addition, Yourgene Genomic Services offers an NIPT and high throughput COVID testing service.
Yourgene Health is headquartered in Manchester, UK with facilities in Taipei, Singapore, the US and Canada, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market under the ticker "YGEN". Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, and projections about its industry; its beliefs; and assumptions. Words such as 'anticipates,' 'expects,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,' 'estimates,' and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control, are difficult to predict, and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. The Company cautions security holders and prospective security holders not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the view of the Company only as of the date of this announcement. The forward-looking statements made in this announcement relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. The Company will not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances, or unanticipated events occurring after the date of this announcement except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority