Avacta doubles revenues but loss widens

Developer of analysis and detection technologies Avacta has doubled its revenues in fiscal 2009 after it began selling its first range of products earlier in the year, according to preliminary results. The York, UK-based firm launched Optim in April, an analytical instrument designed to assist drug developers to measure and predict in advance the biophysical implications of new therapeutic candidates. In its preliminary results for the full year, the firm’s revenues climbed from £0.466m ($0.8m) in 2008 to £0.944m this year, a 103% increase. Operating costs also went up prompting the bottom line to widen from a loss of £1.5m in 2008 to a loss of £2.7m this year. The company is planning to the roll-out of further complementary instruments for Optim in 2010 and 2011. Avacta is also looking to break into the point-of-care diagnostics market with its Midas device, which can detect protein markers of disease in biological fluids. The product is expected to be launched initially in the veterinary market in early 2010.