Quarterly Activity Report
Melbourne, April 28, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Bluechiip Limited (
ASX:BCT), a developer and leader in wireless tracking solution for the healthcare and life science, security, defence and manufacturing industries is pleased to release its Appendix 4C - Quarterly Cashflow report and update for the quarter ended 31 March 2021.
Corporate and Business updates for the Quarter
- Progressive discussions and negotiations with potential OEMs including in the IVF market, Cell Therapy and target Biobanking space with interest for the Company's products;
- Agreed non-binding OEM term sheet following excellent progress made with a new potential OEM partner in the United States (USA);
- Further development of Bluechiip direct to market portfolio of products for the Biobanking market including a range of Bluechiip Enabled and Bluechiip-branded range of cryogenic consumables with off-tool samples received;
- Commenced the optimisation stage of the chip commercial production;
- Successfully achieved the granting of a new patent - Sample Storage and Monitoring System - European Patent Grant EP2509412;
- Cash receipts of $1.626m from the approved Australian Government's Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive 2019/2020 rebate;
- The Company is financially well supported with closing cash and cash equivalents of $5.97m as at 31 March 2021, with no borrowings;
- The private mediation between the Company and Labcon North America is well progressed towards an expected resolution via legal counsel in the USA with regard to the lawsuit filed against Labcon; and
- Installation into end customer trial sites in North America and Australia.
Additional information
Sales and marketing team both in Australia and the USA continue to make progress with potential OEM partners including the establishment of a non-binding term sheet with an OEM in the USA. The sales team in both Australia and the US have also resumed face-to-face product demonstrations where possible following relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, and installed evaluation systems into customer sites in North America and Australia.
As part of its strategy to market Bluechiip's portfolio of consumable products, the Company continues to intensify its resources into R&D of its branded range of cryogenic consumables which it embarked on last quarter.
The Company has also successfully made production improvement to the quality, performance and scalability of its chips. The optimisation stage of the chip commercial production is expected to attain higher quality and yield, with the aim of achieving economies of scale and lowering production costs as the Company approaches full volume production.
During the quarter, staff costs, R&D expenditure and commercial production of chips continue to dominate cash outflow items - $510K, $406K and $403K, respectively.
With the exception of commercial production, the Company expects to receive a refund of 43.5% of its expenditure in the form of 2020/2021 R&D Tax Incentive from the Australian Government.
The Company has recently been granted another patent in Sample Storage and Monitoring System - European Patent Grant EP2509412. This takes the total patents to 26, in nine patent families.
The current quarter outflows have been mitigated by rebate of $1.626m received from R&D Tax Incentive 2019/2020 and government grants of $29K. Overall, the quarter saw net operating cashflow improved from net operating cash outflow of $1,042K in previous quarter to net operating cash inflow of $363K.
The Company is financially well supported with closing cash and cash equivalents of $5.97m as at 31 March 2021, with no borrowings.
The private mediation between the Company and Labcon is well progressed towards an expected resolution via legal counsel in the USA with regard to the lawsuit filed against Labcon North America.
Outlook
The Company continues to respond to market conditions by progressively reviewing several measures implemented, including:
- Resuming in person meetings and product demonstrations with potential OEM partners;
- Executing on potential opportunities in the USA, including evaluation systems into customer sites through our sales and marketing team based in the USA;
- Progressing towards OEM partner agreements with potential OEMs including in the IVF market, Cell Therapy and target Biobanking space, sectors that have experienced significant market interest for the Company's products and solutions;
- Focusing on R&D of a Bluechiip Enabled range of consumables for the Biobanking market which Bluechiip intends to market directly in North America and Australia/New Zealand and through distribution partners globally;
- Improving its suite of products including multi vial reader functionality by addressing market feedback to meet current and potential OEM partners' requirements to showcase its stand-alone all-in-one multi-vial reader in forthcoming trade shows when international borders are reopened;
- Managing its existing cash reserves and allocating to evaluated R&D activities expenditure in line with the Company's overall strategy;
- Managing the scale of production in response to the slowdown in sales activity, while continuing to build stocks with the expectation that when markets normalise, Bluechiip will be well positioned for a return to growth; and
- Working with patent adviser on further patent applications to add to Bluechiip's existing nine patent families comprising 26 granted patents.
To view the quarterly report, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/22W614HH
About Bluechiip Limited
Bluechiip Ltd (ASX:BCT) understands that every sample - stem cells, blood, eggs, sperm and other biospecimens - is critical, so our objective is to manage each one with optimal quality in the most efficient way. Bluechiip's advanced management solution is the only one that provides sample temperature with ID in cryogenic environments to. Most importantly, this delivers confidence in every sample.
Bluechiip's unique patented technology is a MEMS-based wireless tracking solution that contains no electronics. It represents a generational change from current tracking methods such as labels (hand-written and pre-printed), barcodes (linear and 2D), and Radio Frequency Identification. Bluechiip tags are either embedded or manufactured into storage products such as vials or bags. Each product can be easily identified, and critical information such as sample temperature, is detected by readers and stored in the Bluechiip software. In addition to functioning in extreme temperatures, the Bluechiip(R) Advanced Sample management solution can survive autoclaving, gamma irradiation sterilization, humidification, centrifuging, cryogenic storage and frosting.
Bluechiip's technology has applications in healthcare, including in cryogenic storage facilities (biobanks and biorepositories), pathology, clinical trials and forensics. Other key markets include cold-chain logistics/supply chain, security/defence, industrial/manufacturing and aerospace/aviation.
Bluechiip: Delivering confidence in every sample.
| ||
|
