Aptamer Group plc (LON:APTA), the developer of next-generation synthetic binders for the life sciences industry, has announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2025 (H1 2026).
Financial highlights
· Revenue £0.83 million (H1 2025: £0.65 million), a 27% increase reflecting continued commercial traction
· Adjusted EBITDA loss reduced to £1.0 million (H1 2025: £1.1 million)
· Successful fundraising in July 2025 of £1.8 million (net of costs)
· Cash balance at 31 December 2025 of £1.5 million (H1 2025: £2.0 million) giving a cash runway that extends through to Q2 2027 on the expected trajectory
Strategic programme advances
· Enzyme-modulating Optimers out-licensed to Twist Bioscience and Alphazyme. Licensing terms include an upfront payment, royalties and supply revenue
· Second enzyme-modulating discovery project with Alphazyme completed; high-performance binders selected and licensing heads of terms agreed
· Third global enzyme manufacturer evaluating enzyme-modulating Optimer® binders under a Material Transfer Agreement
· Optimer® immunohistochemistry (IHC) reagents successfully developed for an established global life sciences and diagnostics conglomerate. Potential to be integrated into assay kits this year, with agreed royalties of 2% on net sales of all products
· Manufacturing capacity increased and quality systems audited to support supply of licensed assets
· Fibrotic liver delivery vehicle demonstrated excellent preclinical characteristics, being non-toxic, stable and non-immunogenic, significantly de-risking its therapeutic potential
· Unilever programmes advancing through development stages: stability assessment work on the first deodorant programme successfully completed and delivered, supporting the current on-skin testing phase; second programme has shown positive internal results and is approaching delivery for customer evaluation
Fee-for-service contracts
· First contract win in the radioligand therapy market secured with a top 3 global pharmaceutical partner, totalling £360,000, marking a significant strategic entry into this high-value, high-growth sector
· £769,000 in new contracts secured from a single top 5 pharmaceutical partner, with total contract value exceeding £1 million with this partner
· Repeat business secured with a top 10 pharmaceutical company and a top 20 pharmaceutical company to support research activities with targets intractable for other technologies
· Therapeutic development agreement with Invizius in September 2025
· Agreement signed with Metir plc for Optimer® development targeting detection of Cryptosporidium in water and environmental testing in September 2025
Post-period developments
· Launch of Optimer®-containing kits from Twist and Alphazyme with first licensing payments received
· Licensing discussions nearing completion with Alphazyme for the second hot start PCR Optimer®
· Radioligand therapy programme initiated in partnership with Radiopharmium, with preclinical results anticipated by the end of 2026
· Successful launch of an Accelerated Book Build on 25 March 2026, which will generate proceeds of at least £3.75 million. These proceeds will provide the necessary capital required for the Company to advance new and existing asset development programmes and provide a cash runway through to 2028
Commenting on the interim results, Dr Arron Tolley, Chief Executive Officer of Aptamer Group, said:
“The first half of the financial year has seen Aptamer make meaningful progress across all three pillars of its strategy: fee‑for‑service, asset development and licensing. The Group’s Optimer® platform is now generating its first product‑linked revenues through partners such as Twist Bioscience and Alphazyme, while Unilever programmes and the fibrotic liver delivery vehicle continue to advance through preclinical and development stages.
Aptamer’s partnership with Unilever is progressing well, and the Group’s fibrotic liver delivery vehicle has shown strong preclinical results. In parallel, we continue to progress our asset portfolio with industrial partners, with several other assets being evaluated under a Material Transfer Agreement. Our Optimer® fee‑for‑service activity continues to solve intractable problems for pharma partners, generating significant repeat contracts from multiple global pharmaceutical companies. We also announced our first contract win in the high‑value, high‑growth radioligand therapy market, based on the potential strength of Optimers as delivery vehicles for this exciting class of new therapeutic modalities. These paid development programmes are creating licensable assets in their own right, reinforcing the pathway from discovery work to long‑term passive income.
Following today’s Accelerated Book Build launch announcement to raise additional growth capital, we are delighted that new and existing shareholders have recognised the opportunities ahead for Aptamer. This investment will allow us to develop new proprietary assets, creating further value for shareholders, while funding the development of our AI‑enhanced fee‑for‑service offering and the systematic exploration of undruggable and undeliverable targets using our novel oligonucleotide‑based platform. The Group look forward to generating the in vivo data needed to validate our therapeutic programmes and to positioning Aptamer as a credible player in this expanding market.”
Aptamer Group plc has also announced its intention to conduct an equity Fundraise to raise gross proceeds of an expected minimum of £3.75 million.
The Fundraise will be undertaken through (i) a placing and direct subscription to raise an aggregate expected minimum of £3.75 million through the issue of new ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the capital of the Company to new and existing institutional investors at an issue price of 0.6 pence per new Ordinary Share and (ii) a retail offer to existing shareholders for up to £0.5 million at the Issue Price.
The Placing and Subscription are not available to the public and will be conducted by way of an Accelerated Bookbuild which will open immediately following release of this Announcement in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in Appendix I. The Accelerated Bookbuild is expected to close at 4.30pm today, although may be closed earlier or later or may be terminated at any time prior to close at the discretion of the Bookrunner and the Company. Subject to demand, the Bookrunner and Company may increase the size of the Fundraise.
The Company will also issue Warrants over new Ordinary Shares on the basis of one Warrant for every three Ordinary Shares issued pursuant to the Fundraise. Each Warrant will entitle the holder to subscribe for one new Ordinary Share at any time in the two years from the date of grant. The Warrants are conditional on the Resolutions being passed at the General Meeting.
A further announcement confirming the closing of the Accelerated Bookbuild, and the number of Placing Shares, Subscription Shares and Warrants to be issued pursuant to the Placing and Subscription, is expected to be made in due course.
Capitalised terms used but not otherwise defined in this Announcement shall have the meanings ascribed to such terms in Appendix I to this Announcement, unless the context requires otherwise.
Fundraise summary:
· Placing, Subscription and Retail Offer (together, the “Fundraise”) to raise expected minimum gross proceeds of £3.75 million through the proposed issue of new Ordinary Shares at 0.6 pence each.
· The net proceeds of the Fundraise are expected to be applied approximately as follows: (i) c.£0.75 million to working capital, extending the Group’s cash runway through to 2028; (ii) c.£1.1 million to in vivo development of the Group’s liver fibrosis delivery vehicle and targeted radiopharmaceutical pipeline; (iii) c.£1.1 million to building and deploying an AI‑enabled Optimer® discovery engine focused on undeliverable and undruggable targets, including RNA‑binding proteins and transcription factors and (iv) c.£0.4 million to enhance the Group’s manufacturing capabilities.
· Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Ltd (“Turner Pope”) is acting as sole bookrunner and sole broker in respect of the Placing.
· The final number and allocation of the Placing Shares will be determined by Turner Pope in consultation with the Company and the result of the Placing and the Subscription will be announced as soon as practicable after the closing of the Accelerated Bookbuild.
· Participants in the Fundraise will also receive one warrant to subscribe for new Ordinary Shares for every three new Ordinary Shares subscribed for in the Placing, Subscription or Retail Offer with an exercise price of 0.9 pence per share (being a 50% premium to the Issue Price) (“Warrants”).
Due to limits on the existing share authorities available to issue new Ordinary Shares, the Fundraise will be conducted in two tranches.
· a firm placing of Placing Shares (the “Firm Placing Shares”) at the Issue Price, to be issued pursuant to the Company’s existing authorities to issue and allot equity securities on a non-pre-emptive basis (the “Firm Placing”); and
· a conditional placing of Placing Shares (the “Conditional Placing Shares”) at the Issue Price, to be issued conditional on the passing of the Resolutions at the General Meeting (as described further below) (the “Conditional Placing”). In addition, the issue of new Ordinary Shares under the Subscription and the Retail Offer, and the issue of the Broker Warrants and the Warrants, will be subject to the passing of the Resolutions at the General Meeting. Accordingly, subject to the passing of such Resolutions, the Subscription and the Retail Offer will complete at the same time as the Conditional Placing.
If for any reason the Resolutions are not passed at the General Meeting the Warrants will not be issued and subscribers in the Firm Placing will receive Firm Placing Shares only.
The Company has authority to issue a maximum of 674,244,594 new Ordinary Shares without pre-emption under the existing authorities.
Allocations in the Conditional Placing, Subscription and Retail Offer will settle in the 2026/27 tax year for UK tax payers.
Retail Offer
In addition to the Placing and the Subscription, the Company announces that there will be a separate conditional Retail Offer to existing shareholders via the BookBuild Platform to raise up to £0.5 million (before expenses) at the Issue Price. This is to provide existing UK retail shareholders in the Company an opportunity to participate in the Fundraise.
Those investors who subscribe for new Ordinary Shares pursuant to the Retail Offer (the “Retail Offer Shares”) will do so pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Retail Offer contained in a separate announcement to be released by the Company following the close of the Accelerated Bookbuild. The Retail Offer Shares will form part of the second tranche of the Fundraise, and therefore their issue will be conditional inter alia upon the passing of the Resolutions at the General Meeting (as described further below) and will complete at the same time as the Conditional Placing and the Subscription.
The Retail Offer will be conditional on completion of the Placing and Subscription. Neither the Placing nor the Subscription is conditional upon any level of acceptance under the Retail Offer.
A separate announcement will be made by the Company regarding the Retail Offer and its terms following the close of the Accelerated Bookbuild.
EIS and VCT
The Company has received a written opinion from Philip Hare & Associates, dated 10 March 2026, that in respect of the Firm Placing, up to £2.591m would qualify for EIS and/or VCT investment. Following the proposed changes to the EIS and VCT legislation announced in the Government’s Autumn Statement passing into law, the Company has received a further opinion that the Conditional Placing, Subscription Shares and Retail Offer Shares would also qualify for EIS and/or VCT investment. Notwithstanding the Company receiving these opinions, any investor seeking to register their holdings under either scheme is advised to seek their own advice before doing so. Tax reliefs depend on individual circumstances and the Company maintaining its opined qualifying status. Tax rules are subject to change, and if the Company loses its opined qualifying status, tax relief may be withdrawn or need to be repaid.
