Thursday's health and bio updates ranged from distress to expansion. Fusion Antibodies warned shareholders of a sharp revenue decline and shrinking cash reserves even as it flagged scientific progress on its cancer antibody programme, while 4basebio moved to fund growth with a fresh £15 million raise. Elsewhere, MedPal AI's weight-management arm reported a dramatic rise up Eli Lilly's UK supplier rankings, and Arecor Therapeutics extended patent protection on its concentrated insulin technology out to 2039.
Fusion Antibodies' revenue halves as margins collapse
Fusion Antibodies (AIM:FAB) told shareholders at its AGM that unaudited revenue for the six months to 30 September fell to approximately £457,000, down from £838,000 a year earlier, as difficult market conditions weighed on trading at the Belfast-based antibody engineering specialist. Gross margin collapsed to 10% from 30% a year earlier, and cash at the half-year point stood at just £135,000, down from £251,000 at the same point last year. The shares dropped 37.949% to 6.05p on the update.
The deterioration follows FY26 results in September that showed full-year revenue of £2.11 million and cash of £1.04 million at 31 March, after a January placing raised approximately £1.4 million before expenses, meaning the cash position has since fallen by more than £900,000. Chairman Simon Douglas said more than £100,000 of grant funding is due in the coming weeks and that the board has implemented cost reduction measures, including a temporary recruitment freeze, while reviewing working capital requirements against the timing of its commercial pipeline. Despite the financial strain, Douglas highlighted a first in vivo study of the DR5 therapeutic antibody programme with Queen's University Belfast, in which two of four tested antibody formats produced a significant reduction in tumour growth in mice implanted with human colorectal cancer cells, comparable to the positive control antibody conatumumab. Fusion is now developing stable manufacturing cell lines for the two lead formats ahead of a planned second in vivo study.
"We are increasingly confident of a positive outcome in which the company would retain a commercial interest in OptiMAL® antibodies discovered by the NCI," said Douglas.
The scale of the revenue and margin decline, against a cash position already thinned by the January placing, puts Fusion in a precarious position heading into the second half, with the pending grant funding and progress on OptiMAL® commercial discussions now critical to bridging working capital needs. The DR5 and OptiMAL® programmes offer longer-term optionality, but near-term survival now hinges on cost discipline and the timing of external funding rather than core trading, which investors have evidently marked down hard.
4basebio launches £15 million raise to fund commercial expansion
4basebio (AIM:4BB) has announced plans to raise at least £15 million through a placing, alongside a subscription and retail offer, pricing new shares at an 8.4% discount to extend its cash runway to the second half of 2028. The synthetic DNA developer, whose enzymatically manufactured material supports gene therapies, mRNA production and DNA vaccines, is issuing shares at 515p against Wednesday's closing price of 562.5p; the stock traded down 5.78% to 530.0p on the news.
The company said proceeds will support commercial development toward a target of more than £10 million in annual revenue, underpinned by a pipeline it values at more than £80 million. Funds will also go toward completing the fit-out of its Q-Arc facility to expand research-use-only manufacturing capacity, research aimed at cutting turnaround times and reducing cost of goods sold to above 75%, and general working capital. The raise comprises a placing of 2.66 million new shares alongside the subscription and retail components.
Extending runway to 2028 gives 4basebio room to execute on its commercial targets without the near-term funding pressure now visible at smaller peers in the sector, though the discount pricing and dilution are the immediate cost shareholders are absorbing for that security.
MedPal's New Health rockets into top 30 UK Mounjaro suppliers
MedPal AI (AIM:MPAL) said its New Health weight-management clinic has climbed to 29th place in Eli Lilly's ranking of UK Mounjaro suppliers by volume, up from 3,048th roughly three months ago, with the position confirmed directly by Eli Lilly. The digital health and pharmacy group said New Health now serves more than 42,500 customers, up from over 33,000 at the end of September, giving it an estimated 2.1% share of the UK's GLP-1 weight-management market, based on Novo Nordisk's written evidence to the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee putting the total UK user base at roughly 2 million. Shares eased 1.85% to 5.3p.
New Health is the consumer brand MedPal launched to capture GLP-1 weight-management and peptide demand, backed by a phased national marketing campaign costing roughly £1.3 million over six months. The group said it remains on track to open an expanded GLP-1 dispensing line at its Sarus Court facility by the end of October. "Two weeks ago we said repeat orders would grow as customers reached their first reorder date. They now make up over 30% of New Health revenue, up from 22% in September, with no acquisition cost attached. Our ambition is to be a top three UK GLP-1 provider," said Jason Drummond, chief executive of Square1 Consulting and MedPal AI.
The jump from outside the top 3,000 to 29th place in three months signals rapid customer acquisition momentum in a crowded GLP-1 market, and the rising repeat-order share suggests the business is beginning to generate revenue without ongoing acquisition spend, a key marker of sustainability as the marketing campaign matures.
Arecor extends patent protection for concentrated insulin to 2039
Arecor Therapeutics (AIM:AREC), the Cambridge-based clinical stage biotech developing treatments for diabetes, obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases, said it has strengthened patent protection for AT278, its ultra-concentrated 500 U/mL ultra-rapid acting insulin. The European Patent Office has granted a patent covering AT278's use in automated insulin delivery systems, extending European protection to at least 2039, while the US Patent and Trademark Office granted a separate patent for the same application, adding to Arecor's existing US patent portfolio for AT278 and likewise pushing protection to at least 2039. Shares rose 3.125% to 82.5p.
The Indian Patent Office has also granted a further patent offering broad protection for AT278's novel composition in that market. Arecor's concentrated ultra-rapid acting insulins now carry more than 30 granted patents across major markets, spanning concentrations from 100 U/mL to over 500 U/mL. "These new patents further strengthen the already robust IP portfolio protection for our concentrated ultra-rapid-acting insulins, and the novel technology underpinning them," said Dr Jan Jezek.
Pushing patent protection out to 2039 across three major markets, including specific coverage for automated insulin delivery integration, gives Arecor a longer licensing runway to negotiate with pump and device partners, reinforcing the commercial value of AT278 well beyond its current clinical-stage status.