Manchester-based molecular diagnostics firm Yourgene Health plc said on Tuesday its Yourgene Genomic Services (YGS) business has been awarded a contract for the provision of genetic sequencing services by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), running until March 31, 2022.
News of the contract came as Yourgene announced that its revenues increased 113% to £17.5 million in the six months to September 30, “with Genomic Services segment up 260% to £10.5m and Genomic Technologies segment up 32% to £6.9m.”
Yourgene said: “The contract for the provision of sequencing services is the second contract awarded to the group this year under the Public Health England National Microbiology Framework Agreement and will use Yourgene’s high throughput automated sequencing services testing laboratory in Citylabs 1.0, Manchester.”
Yourgene CEO Lyn Rees said: “We are thrilled to be supporting the Government’s COVID-19 testing programme, following on from the successful NHS Test and Trace Programme for COVID-19 testing contract we secured in August this year.
“The repeat business demonstrates the quality of services and testing facilities we offer at our laboratory in Manchester.
“Actual value for this contract will depend on the services purchased, with no committed spend at this moment in time, but we look forward to updating shareholders on the progress over time.”
On its half-year results, Yourgene said: “The first half of the financial year saw record performance as prior investment into clinical service lab capacity started to deliver a substantial return, with significant growth seen in both Genomic Technologies and Genomic Services business segments.
“The board is confident that trading for the full year will remain robust and that full year revenues are therefore likely to exceed current market expectations, already upgraded previously in October.”
Gross profit was up 107% to £10.2 million, with adjusted EBITDA at £2.1 million compared to a loss of £300,000 in the prior year period.
CEO Rees added: “The strong performance in this first half is a testament to how we are able to take our core competencies from Genomic Technologies and Genomic Services offerings and react to market demands.
“The first half has seen this result in very substantial growth in COVID-19 testing where we have quickly mobilised our core lab services and scaled resources to meet this key need, and we have the ability to apply these core skills and capacity to other areas in due course.
“Whilst growth across non-COVID areas of the business is subdued, we are seeing reassuring signs of a return to growth across a number of our Genomic Technologies and Genomic Services portfolios, particularly following growing access for our sales teams in Europe and North America.
“We remain confident in the recovery of non-COVID-19 revenue streams to underpin longer-term growth prospects.
“It was a great pleasure to again be able to visit the USA and Canada recently, and I am as optimistic as ever about our prospects in the North American market.
“As we fill out our global footprint into Latin America and refresh our presence in the Middle East and Asia, we can truly say that Yourgene is now a globally integrated provider of leading genomic technologies and services.”