MaxCyte expecting strong 2023 after decent results

Cell engineering specialist MaxCyte reported total revenue of $12.4m in the fourth quarter of 2022 on Thursday, making for an increase of 22% year-on-year.

The AIM-traded company said full-year revenue for 2022 was $44.3m, representing growth of 31% compared to 2021.

It said its core business revenue increased 4% in the fourth quarter, led by a 4% increase in revenue from cell therapy customers and a 5% increase in revenue from drug discovery clients.

For the full year, core business revenues grew 26%, with cell therapy revenue up 33% and drug discovery revenue ahead 8%.

Looking ahead, MaxCyte said it was expecting total revenue growth of 21% to 26% over 2022 this year, including core revenue growth of 20% to 25%.

Additionally, it said it expected strategic platform licence (SPL) programme-related revenue of about $6m.

The firm reported total cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments of $227.3m at year-end on 31 December.

“We are pleased with our strong progress and performance in 2022 and look forward to continuing this positive momentum into 2023,” said president and chief executive officer Doug Doerfler.

“Over the course of the year, we have made significant investments in our people, manufacturing capacity, and research and development infrastructure, which positions us well for our next stage of growth.

“Our portfolio of partnerships continued to grow throughout 2022, having announced three new SPL partnerships as well as the recent addition of Catamaran Bio as a partner in early 2023.”

Doerfler noted that MaxCyte also entered into a partnership with Vertex following the transfer of the exa-cel program from CRISPR.

“The partnership maintains our role in this program, for which Vertex is currently seeking regulatory marketing approval in the United States and Europe for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.

“We are continuing to see our partners make strong progress across their clinical programs and are focused on providing them with the in-house manufacturing and regulatory support that they will require as they move towards commercialization.

“Our partnership pipeline remains robust and growing as we begin 2023 and we are excited to see our partners achieve upcoming milestones and move the cell therapy industry forward.”

At 1442 GMT, shares in MaxCyte were flat at 1442 GMT.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.