FY2025 results: big top-line jump, losses narrowing, patent in the bag
Fusion Antibodies has posted its final results for the year ended 31 March 2025, and there is clear evidence of a turnaround taking shape. Revenue rose 73% to £1.97m (FY2024: £1.14m) as the new commercial push and sector diversification started to bite. Gross profit swung to £430k (FY2024: £45k loss), while the operating loss narrowed to £1.78m (FY2024: £2.29m). The bottom line was a loss of £1.71m, or 1.8p per share (FY2024: 3.9p loss).
Post period, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Fusion’s U.S. patent covering OptiMAL – the company’s flagship human antibody discovery library and its design method. For a specialist services business, owning protected IP is a big deal: it can underpin higher-margin service lines and future licensing.
What Fusion Antibodies actually does (and why OptiMAL matters)
Fusion is a contract research organisation (CRO) focused on antibody discovery and engineering. CROs provide specialist R&D services to pharma, biotech and diagnostics companies without those clients needing to build the capability in-house.
OptiMAL is Fusion’s mammalian-display library designed to discover complete human antibodies directly against a chosen target. In plain English: it aims to find drug-ready human antibodies faster, avoiding animal immunisation and subsequent “humanisation” steps. The collaboration with the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) has independently identified OptiMAL-derived antibodies that bind to a cancer-related target, with functional work ongoing. Fusion plans a formal service launch later in 2025.
Diversification is doing its job
The board has been vocal about reducing exposure to the more volatile, venture-backed therapeutics sector. That shift is now visible in the numbers: Diagnostics contributed 33% of FY2025 revenue. Management also reports “first signs of real interest” in veterinary applications, which could be a slower burn but broadens the base.
A notable data point: two customers represented 47% of revenue (£909k), so client concentration remains meaningful, but the growing diagnostics mix helps balance risk.
Funding, cash and going concern: the state of the runway
Fusion ended the year with cash of £0.36m (31 March 2024: £1.20m). The company completed a placing in March 2025, raising approximately £1.17m (before expenses) at 6.75p with no discount to the market price. Part of this landed after year-end – the second tranche of 8,416,020 shares was admitted on 9 April 2025.
Beyond equity, Fusion secured significant non-dilutive support: approximately £1m under the Future Medicines Institute (FMI) initiative plus access to up to £5m of capital equipment at Queen’s University Belfast. In April 2025, an Innovate UK Launchpad grant was approved for the DR5 oncology antibody project, with up to £545k expected for Fusion over 18 months.
The going concern statement is balanced: directors have a reasonable expectation of adequate resources for at least 12 months from approval, helped by the raise and grants. However, they flag a “material uncertainty” if revenue and cash conversion fall short of forecasts. In short, progress is real, but execution in H1 FY2026 matters.
Commercial momentum and pipeline signals
Sales activity picked up in H2 FY2025, including continuation of the NCI collaboration and an expanding pipeline. On 27 August 2025, Fusion announced three follow-on contracts from an existing client with combined anticipated revenues of nearly $460,000, showing traction with repeat business.
Fusion also delivered its first OptiPhage contract – a phage-display library (antibody fragment discovery) for a leading research customer, with an option for exclusivity. This runs alongside OptiMAL and gives clients choice depending on their preferred discovery route.
Why the U.S. OptiMAL patent is strategically important
- Defensibility: Formal IP protection over the library and design method strengthens Fusion’s position against competitors.
- Monetisation options: Patents can support premium pricing for services and open the door to licensing or tech-transfer deals – a path management specifically highlights.
- Leverage: With NCI validation work ongoing and a planned launch at a major industry conference in December 2025, the patent adds credibility at exactly the right time.
Key numbers from the RNS
| Metric | FY2025 | FY2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £1.97m | £1.14m |
| Gross profit | £430k | £45k loss |
| Operating loss | £1.78m | £2.29m |
| Loss for the year | £1.71m | £2.23m |
| EBITDA | £(1.67)m | £(2.07)m |
| Cash at 31 March | £0.36m | £1.20m |
| Net assets | £669k | £1.79m |
| Diagnostics share of revenue | 33% | Not disclosed |
My take: the good, the not-so-good, the catalysts
Positives
- Strong revenue growth with a clear improvement in gross margin performance.
- Diversification is working – diagnostics now one third of revenue.
- U.S. patent granted for OptiMAL, alongside NCI validation progress.
- Non-dilutive funding is material (FMI ~£1m plus access to equipment; Innovate UK DR5 grant up to £545k for Fusion).
- Evidence of commercial traction via follow-on contracts and a growing pipeline.
Watch-outs
- Cash was £359k at year-end; the April tranche and grants help, but careful cash management remains vital.
- Going concern carries a “material uncertainty” if sales slip – execution through FY2026 is key.
- Client concentration persists, with two customers at 47% of revenue.
Key catalysts to watch
- Formal launch of OptiMAL as a service later in 2025 and any tech-transfer or licensing deals.
- Further independent data and potential publications from the NCI collaboration.
- Progress on the DR5 oncology antibody (grant-funded) and any additional grant wins.
- More OptiPhage contracts and expansion in Diagnostics.
Market context and strategy fit
Management sees antibody discovery spending growing, driven by new technologies and precision medicine. Fusion’s strategy lines up with this: own IP (OptiMAL), service breadth (from humanisation to cell-line development) and a shift toward licensing for scalability. If the company can convert OptiMAL from a service into a licensable platform, recurring revenues could improve visibility and margins. That is the bigger prize.
Dates for your diary: investor presentations
- Online presentation: Monday, 15 September 2025 at 11am BST via Investor Meet Company – registration link: Investor Meet Company.
- In-person London event: Wednesday, 17 September 2025 at 2.30pm – email [email protected] to register.
Fusion’s new interactive investor hub is here: investorhub.fusionantibodies.com.
Bottom line
This is a materially better year for Fusion Antibodies. Revenue growth, improved gross profit, new grant income and the U.S. patent for OptiMAL all move the story forward. The flip side is the still-modest cash balance and the need to keep converting pipeline into cash receipts to address the going concern caveat.
If OptiMAL lands well with customers and the NCI data is strong, FY2026 could be the year Fusion starts to look less like a services turnaround and more like an IP-led growth play. For now, it is a higher-risk, higher-upside situation where delivery over the next two quarters will matter.
