“Overall, we got off to a very positive start in 2023, delivering strong growth driven by high demand for our proprietary technology platforms GARD® and ORA®. The quarter was characterized by a high pace of business with both new and returning orders from leading global companies. We see very strong and increasing interest in GARD® following the OECD approval obtained last year. With this growing interest in the Group's offering, we have created a solid foundation for continuing strong growth, and combining this with effective cost controls will lead us to profitability," says Peter Nählstedt, President and CEO.

GARD® sales continue to perform well with a 33% growth rate. The Company’s customer base grew during the quarter with the addition of seven new customers while returning customers accounted for 80% of total sales. SenzaGen secured an SEK 1 million order from a new customer in the chemicals industry that sees substantial benefits from testing new product candidates with GARD® early on in the development process. Returning sales included a major customer-specific adaptation project with one of the largest cosmetics companies in the world and GARD®skin Dose-Response, which is a testament to the alignment of GARD® with large company needs.

A record-high number of customer meetings were held at the Society of Toxicology (SOT)’s conference in the US. The Group's other marketing activities also generated more leads than ever before.

VitroScreen delivered solid growth during the quarter. The majority of sales came from pre-clinical testing and customer-specific innovation services based on advanced 3D models such as its proprietary technology platform ORA®. The strongest growing customer segments were cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

In March, VitroScreen completed the certification process for ISO 9001:2015 (quality) and ISO 13485:2021 (medical devices). These certifications are a testament to the company's high quality and will attract new customers in the medical devices, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, chemicals and nutrition industries.

In addition, the SenzaGen Group’s consulting unit, ToxHub, performed above the Group's expectations, which is very positive. ToxHub accounted for approximately 10% of total Group sales. The integration process is proceeding effectively and according to plan to create strong sales synergies in areas including medical devices.

These sales figures have not been audited by an auditor, they should not be interpreted as meaning that profitability has been achieved, and they are subject to change at the time of the half-yearly financial statements. The Company chose to report these figures to provide shareholders with relevant information.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) today published its approval of SenzaGen’s non-animal skin sensitization test, GARD®skin, as a part of Test Guideline 442E In vitro Skin Sensitization. An OECD test guideline enables customers in industries including cosmetics and chemicals in the EU, US and parts of Asia to use GARD®skin test results for regulatory filings. The approval gives the Company access to the entire non-animal toxicology market for skin sensitization.

“The OECD decision is a regulatory breakthrough for our GARD® technology. With OECD approval in place, we can offer the GARD®skin test to a much broader group of customers, which will result in greater demand for the test, and we expect increased sales volumes in the future. GARD®skin is a high-performance and highly reliable method with a broad application area, especially because it is very well suited for use with chemicals that are traditionally considered difficult to assess. This is an area in which we hold a unique industry position. SenzaGen is the first company in the world to develop and apply new technology based on genomics and machine learning to the field of toxicology and skin sensitization, which will lead to results that are better and safer for humans,” says Peter Nählstedt, President and CEO of SenzaGen.

GARD®skin meets a unique customer need
With high reliability, GARD®skin test results help product development companies and producers ensure that the products they bring to market are free of allergies, enabling them to prove this in their regulatory filings. This is the first test to give customers the capability to test chemicals traditionally considered difficult to test. As a result, GARD®skin meets a need in skin sensitization not covered by any other available tests.

The OECD approval
The OECD’s applicable regulatory testing strategy for non-animal skin sensitization includes chemical assessment with several parameters. For skin sensitization assessment, GARD®skin is accepted as a stand-alone method for positive results and together with additional evidence for negative results.

The OECD’s official announcement on the adoption of GARD®skin as a test guideline for non-animal skin sensitization is available on the following web page: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/oecd-guidelines-for-the-testing-of-chemicals-section-4-health-effects_20745788

Web conference
SenzaGen invites the media and investors to a web conference on July 5 at 14.00 CEST at which CEO Peter Nählstedt will provide a briefing on the OECD approval. The web conference will be held in English starting with a presentation followed by a Q&A session.

Weblink
https://tv.streamfabriken.com/senzagen-press-conference-2022

Phone number for the conference
To participate in the conference call, use the dial-in numbers below.

SE: +46 856642651
UK: +44 3333000804
NE: +31 207095189
FR: +33 170750711
DE: +496913803430
CH: +41 225809034

Pin code: 65480307#

After the live broadcast, the web conference will be available on the Company’s website.