AcouSort

First quarter 2024 for the Group
Net sales amounted to TSEK 1,357 (2,598)
Result before tax amounted to TSEK -3,729 (-3,040)
Result per share was SEK -0.24 (-0.23)
Equity ratio amounted to 71% (62%) on March 31, 2024

First quarter 2024 for the Parent company
Net sales amounted to TSEK 1,357 (2,560)
Result before tax amounted to TSEK -3,090 (-2,285)
Result per share was SEK -0.20 (-0.17)
Equity ratio amounted to 76% (64%) on March 31, 2024

Significant events during the first quarter
On January 18, AcouSort announces that the Company extends its collaboration with a leading cell therapy company into a third project phase. The new assignment will generate revenues of at least TSEK 485 in 2024.
On January 31, AcouSort announces that significant technical progress in the AcouSome project has been achieved with two novel patent applications filed.

Significant events after the end of the period
On April 3, AcouSort announces that the Company restructures its North American sales operation.
On April 26, AcouSort announces that the Company has recently initiated two AcouWash lease collaborations with potential OEM partners, one in Europe and one in the US. 
On April 29, AcouSort announces that the Company and GenSensor enter collaboration aiming at improving bioreactor culturing.

CEO COMMENTS
Positive development in all of our key areas
In the first quarter of 2024, we have continued to make progress in all of our focus areas. In Diagnostics, our technology has contributed to our collaborator’s breakthrough product, and in Cell therapy our collaboration with a leading cell therapy company continued to progress. In April, we entered a second collaboration targeting applications within cell therapy, now with the French company GenSensor. In the quarter, we also witnessed the growing interest in extracellular vesicles research. This is a trend which we expect to drive increased sales of our benchtop innovation systems. Total income in the quarter amounted to SEK 2,974 thousand (3,848), with the difference due to updated booking principles for royalty revenues[1].

Diagnostics – AcouSort contributes to a breakthrough product
In 2023, our collaborator within critical care diagnostics, received market approval in the US and other jurisdictions for their next generation diagnostics system containing AcouSort technology. With this milestone, our first partnership entered into its commercial phase validating our OEM/license business model. The strength in our unique technology fills us with confidence and energy as we continue to seek further OEM deals through our from-research-to-OEM strategy.
Minimum royalties from this collaboration will be SEK 3.55 million in 2024. Since our technology in the system is semi-disposable, we expect to see growth in revenue as the installed base of the new system grows. Both minimum and per product royalties are index-adjusted going forward.

Cell therapy – continued progress
In the cell therapy space, we have extended our collaboration with a leading cell therapy company. In the quarter, our joint project reached yet another significant milestone with the signing of a Statement of Work (SoW) describing Phase 3 in the ongoing collaboration. The new assignment will generate revenues of at least SEK 485 thousand in 2024. The collaboration aims to demonstrate how AcouSort’s AcouWash technology can be adapted for industrial use and integrated as OEM components to automate certain processing steps in the partnering company’s future cell therapy products and instruments. The feedback from the partnering company has been positive throughout the collaboration and in the now agreed phase 3, AcouSort will optimize and expand its technology so that it can be used even in the most challenging steps of cell therapy product processing.
In May, AcouSort embarked on a new industry collaboration in cell therapy with the French company Gensensor which develops systems to improve monitoring of bioreactor culturing. The aim of the collaboration is to use the AcouTrap technology in the sample preparation step to facilitate accurate sample analysis. Initially the collaboration will be focused on integration of AcouTrap units with GenSensor’s device as well as development of additional data regarding the samples isolated with the AcouTrap.

Emerging opportunities in extracellular vesicle research
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are emerging as one of the most promising research fields with potential to dramatically improve diagnostics as well as precision medicine. What makes EVs so interesting is that they carry a cargo of bioactive molecules and play a crucial role in cell-to-cell communication. In this way, EVs act as messengers, shuttling information or cargo between cells and tissues. This communication network influences processes like tissue repair, immune response, and homeostasis.
We are currently very active in this field by attending important workshops and congresses, and we have already established a number of important contacts with leading scientists. We are currently in discussions with two potential collaboration partners in North America and one in Europe. If everything goes according to plan, we will place AcouTrap systems at all three locations during H1, 2024.

Innovation – significant technical progress in the AcouSome project
In August 2022, the European Innovation Council (EIC) awarded the AcouSome project SEK 26 million to develop groundbreaking technology enabling exosome-based diagnostics. The aim of the project is to develop a low cost acoustofluidic thin film actuated chip for separation of extracellular vesicles from blood. Initiated in the beginning of 2023, the innovation project has already made significant technical progress resulting in the development of two novel patent applications filed in the quarter.
Of the SEK 26 million granted by the EIC, SEK 12.2 million go directly to AcouSort, and the remainder of the funding is distributed to AcouSort’s partners Lund University, DTU, and DayOne. The project will run for 36 months and is fully funded by the EIC.

Restructuring of our North American sales operation
In the quarter, AcouSort and the Company’s Sales Director North America, Kelley Intehar, mutually agreed to terminate their collaboration. The reason for the termination is that the North American sales have not developed in line with the Company’s ambitions. The ongoing sales activities and continued business development in North America will temporarily be handled by AcouSort in Lund. The Company’s long-term objective to establish profitable growth in North America remains unchanged.

Outlook
In 2024, we will continue building on our strategic advances within diagnostics and cell therapy. Our research-to-OEM strategy has proved to be successful, and we will increase our efforts to become a preferred supplier of automated sample processing solutions to partners within the diagnostic and cell therapy markets. Developing OEM-partnerships is a process which requires time before a steady stream of revenue can be achieved. However, to strengthen our current cashflow, we will intensify our efforts to increase sales of our benchtop systems by establishing strategic collaborations with Key Opinion Leaders. We also aim to generate further external verifications of the AcouTrap system for exosome and extracellular vesicle processing.

Torsten Freltoft – CEO

[1] From 2024, royalty is accrued over the full year. With the previous year's accounting principle, the income in the first quarter 2024 would be 2.7 million higher.

The report is attached below and can also be found at https://acousort.com/investor/financial-reports/