Tyneside health tech firm QuantuMDx has narrowed its losses as it works on releasing a new version of its pioneering diagnostic device.
The Newcastle company develops medical testing equipment in the form of handheld device Q-POC, which aims to provide diagnoses for a range of illnesses within minutes, particularly in poorer countries where there less access to hospitals and laboratories. The business – which has previously received investment from Bill Gates and his wife – last year paused production of its flagship product to focus on development of a revamped version, as well as developing new tests which it will carry out.
The life sciences and diagnostics developer, which also has subsidiaries in the US and Singapore, saw revenues fall from £1.7m in the 12 months to March 31 2024, to £346,000 in the nine months ended December 31 2024, but its operating losses narrowed considerably, from £11.3m to £5.96m. The overall loss narrowed from £11.3m to £7.2m.
The firm said it has a history of net losses, and the directors said they expect to make operating losses until the company has gained significant market traction for Q-POC. It added that a new drive to raise funds is being made this financial quarter.
The company's average number of employees has reduced from 100 to 93, mainly in administrative and commercial departments, during the period.
In the accounts, director Jonathan O’Halloran says: “The vision is for Q-POC to become a truly portable device capable of delivering actionable lab-quality molecular diagnostic test results in minutes. It enables the early and precise diagnosis of disease, to be used as part of the drive to address global health burdens including the detection of infectious diseases and of antimicrobial resistance.
“Much of the activity during the period to December 2024 focused on the further development and expansion of the features of the Q-POC, working on improvements, additional functionality and software upgrades. Work also continued on feasibility and development of future assays which will be made available for use with the enhanced Q-POC (MK 2.0).”
“Following the receipt of the £9,850,000 convertible loan note in December 2024, the company has received cash funding in various different streams through the period, including the sale of its cassette manufacturing line held in Singapore to Hunan Sanway Quinten Biotech Co Ltd, the receipt of the R&D tax credits from HMRC and a bridging loan, also from Quinten, in advance of a larger funding round expected to complete in Q2 of 2025.”
During the period, the company said it paused sales of existing products in order to concentrate on achieving completion of Q- POC and its first multi-plex test. Commercial efforts have been focused on future product and market research, in particular exploring the commercial feasibility of several more potential new multi-plex tests, to run on the new version of the handheld device.
Manufacturing is now being carried out in a collaboration taking place in China at a significantly lower cost, means it can reduce the sale price of its products in the near future, “giving the products material competitive advantage in the market”.
The report adds: “The directors believe that the Q-POC is best-in-class for decentralised molecular testing and has a unique clinical and commercial profile. Nonetheless, there are no assurances that Q-POC will be able to disrupt the market and entice customers away from current products.
"The directors believe, however, that the company has a robust IP portfolio of over 200 filed and granted patents which will protect its technologies and their significant competitive advantage over current diagnostic technologies.”
