Yourgene Health international expansion sees revenue jump 45%

Yourgene Health’s shares dropped on Monday as the company returned a loss even after interim revenue increased by almost 50%.

For the six months ended 30 September the molecular diagnostics outfit, formerly known as Premaitha Health, achieved revenue of £3.9m, up by 45.2% compared to the same period last year, leading to a reduction in loss before tax of 29.9% to £3.5m.

International revenue drove the increase, rising 52.9% to £2.6m, while UK revenue jumped 23.5% and European revenue jumped 41.4% to £0.6m and £0.7m respectively.

Cash and cash equivalents at 30 September stood at £0.2m, down from £1.6m at the same point a year before.

Lyn Rees, chief executive of Yourgene, said: "We continued to grow our customer base successfully outside of the IP-restricted markets for NIPT in the period, and now have product and service sales in over 20 global territories. With market access now clear post the settlement with Illumina, we will look to broaden our international reach with a refreshed and upskilled commercial structure."

Towards the end of the period, Yourgene confirmed it will have to alter its IONA tests in some countries and make a series of payments, which are expected to be “no more than” £1m, after a patent dispute with Illumina.

Meanwhile, a test based on Illumina sequencing technology will be released in 2020, for which Yourgene will pay Illumina a royalty per test.

The six-month period also saw the opening of new laboratories in India and Kenya, and a new agreement to provide non-invasive prenatal test screening in India.

"As well as bringing new customers to the business, we are excited to rapidly expand existing markets such as India, the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia where the foundations for growth have been laid. We are also implementing a rapid reorientation of the business towards strategic growth drivers in line with my initial goals for the business," said Rees.

Yourgene’s shares were down 6.29% at 8.20p at 0942 GMT.