One of Wales leading life sciences firms, Creo Medical, has reported a near tripling in revenues and a collaboration agreement with a global leader in robotic- assisted surgery.
The Chepstow-based Alternative Investment Market listed firm, which is developing and commercialising a suite of electrosurgical medical devices in the field of surgical endoscopy, has reported revenues of £25.2m for 2021 compared to £9.4m a year earlier.
Creo, which in line with expectations posted operational losses of £29.9m, has also struck a collaboration agreement with US and Nasdaq listed Intuitive, a global technology leader in minimally invasive care and the pioneer of robotic-assisted surgery.
The multi-year tie-up will optimise certain Creo products to be compatible with Intuitive’s robotic technology. The agreement provides a framework to allow joint clinical studies to be undertaken and includes a number of milestone payments to be made to Creo. Future royalty structures have also been agreed for any products which may be sold in the future.
On the last financial results, which saw R&D expenditure increasing by £2.7m to £12.9m and Creo having a cash cushion of £43.5m following a successful rights issue last September, its chief executive Craig Gulliford, said: “It has been a year of strong progress for the group, as we continue to build momentum and make progress against our mission of improving patient outcomes through our ‘build, buy and partner’ strategy.
"We doubled our pipeline of clinicians who are to be trained under our clinical education programme, with a significant proportion of those trained during the year now being product users.
"Our US office opening, as well as the purchase of the freehold of Creo House (in Chepstow), and the post-period end opening of our Singapore regional hub, have all been key steps for the Group’s commercial growth and the increased education of clinicians across our target markets.
Looking ahead we remain well-positioned to continue our commercial growth and will continue to evaluate further potential strategic acquisitions. We expect that as restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic continue to ease throughout 2022, we will see increased rates of clinical education and increased rates of use of our technology in elective cases.”
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On the agreement with Intuitive, he added; “The combination of Intuitive’s robotic platforms and our Kamaptive technology strives to provide patients with additional treatment options using state-of-the-art technology. The collaboration highlights the versatility of Creo’s technology whilst validating the hard work that has been undertaken by Creo’s engineering team to bring advanced energy to the field of surgical endoscopy.
“Technological advancements are facilitating a paradigm shift in the way many surgical procedures are delivered and we look forward to working together to enable additional options for patients using this combined state-of-the-art technology
". As well as exploring technical compatibility, our teams have agreed on commercialisation terms, including clinical and regulatory fundamentals in an open and collaborative environment, to establish what we hope to be a long-lasting collaboration centred around shared goals of using thoughtfully developed technology to help improve patient outcomes.”