The trickle bits from the Amersham results -
Separations
The separations business is the market leader in chromatographic systems for the purification of proteins from laboratory to manufacturing scale.
In the first half of 2001, this business delivered sales of 130 million GBP, up 22 per cent. Operating profit was 45 million GBP compared to 29 million GBP for the same period in 2000. The laboratory separations area performed particularly well, largely driven by sales of the AKTA(TM) purification system, as researchers increased their focus on proteomics.
The bioprocess area continued to see very good growth, driven by growing sales of biopharmaceuticals. The bioprocess products are used in the production of over 90 per cent of biopharmaceutical drugs on the market and in development. Amersham Pharmacia Biotech is currently supplying systems for a number of new plants being built around the world, as biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies increase their manufacturing capacity. Bioprocess products launched in the first half of 2001 included next generation Chromaflow(TM) columns and Inactine(TM), a compound for the inactivation of viruses.
Drug Discovery
The drug discovery business provides high throughput systems to improve the effectiveness of life science and pharmaceutical R&D. Sales in drug discovery were 71 million GBP, up nine per cent, with an operating loss of 31 million GBP, compared with a loss of 20 million GBP for the same period in 2000. However, trading profit, excluding litigation costs, increased from 2 million GBP to 6 million GBP.
In 2001 there has been a slowdown in the sequencing market, particularly in North America and Europe, compared with a very high growth seen last year. This has partly been offset by good growth in the Far East and Latin America, where Amersham Pharmacia Biotech has consolidated its leading position by securing significant instrument contracts. Longer term, the sequencing market is expected to continue to grow, albeit at a slower rate, driven by demand for discovery of genetic variation, genotype analysis and projects to undertake de novo sequencing of species other than man. Some high throughput centres are now seeking ways to further improve efficiency by investing in next generation 384 capillary systems (MegaBACE(TM) 4000) and new template preparation technology. Other centres are shifting their focus to areas such as drug development and may begin to contract out sequencing work.
In the first half of the year, two genomics reagents were launched -- the DYEnamic(TM) ET terminator kits for use on competitor sequencing instruments, and TempliPhi(TM), a DNA template preparation kit which not only reduces the time and labour required by traditional methods but also produces samples of higher quality and quantity. One of the world's largest genome centres, the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) in California, has already converted its entire production to the use of TempliPhi(TM).
The microarray business performed well. Later this year, Amersham Pharmacia Biotech will launch a next generation instrument, Lucidea(TM) Array Spotter, which will give researchers higher quality, higher density microarrays in a faster time.
The proteomics business has continued its rapid growth, building on the success of established leading products such as the 2D-DIGE for protein expression analysis. Later this year, further products will be rolled out under the Ettan(TM) brand, including a Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LCMS) system and spot handling platform, to add to the existing Ettan(TM) spot picker and MALDI-TOF instruments. During the first half of 2001, Amersham Pharmacia Biotech's proteomics technologies were adopted by leading researchers at two universities in Texas and the Georgia Research Alliance in the USA, as well as by several pharmaceutical companies.
Laboratory Products
The laboratory products business provides core technologies for the purification, analysis and detection of biological molecules. Sales in this area grew one per cent to 93 million GBP. The steady recovery of sales in this business reflects the increased focus on products in growth areas such as gene expression and protein analysis. Operating profit was 10 million GBP, compared to 14 million GBP for the same period in 2000.
The internet strategy is delivering good results, particularly in customer and sales support. Investment has been focused on strong brands, with extensions to successful products such as the Typhoon(TM) scanner and Ready-To-Go(TM) beads for DNA analysis.
Outlook
After a strong first half, the Board is confident about a good performance for the year as a whole. Amersham plc's current guidance for the second half of 2001 is as follows:
Imaging is expected to achieve good sales growth for the remainder of the year. Operating margins, which were particularly strong during the first half, are not expected to be sustained at the same level through to the year end. Factors which will contribute to the easing of the margin in the second half include; lower bulk sales into Japan, commissioning expenses for Lindesnes and Cork and the cost of building a sales team for the promotion of Optison(TM).
In Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, separations is expected to continue to show its strong growth. The level of growth in drug discovery will be driven by the success of new products recently introduced or due to be launched shortly. R&D expenditure in Amersham Pharmacia Biotech is planned to be at a level similar to the first half.... |
