ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Reports Q1 2018 Results

• ImmunoPrecise Develops Humanizing Platforms to Significantly Grow Core Business
• Increases Operational Efficiency and Expands Capacity to Scale Quickly

VICTORIA, Sept. 29, 2017 /CNW/ - IMMUNOPRECISE ANTIBODIES LTD. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: IPA)(OTC PINK: IPATF) today reports its financial results for the first quarter ended July 31, 2017 and provides a business update.  The financial statements and related management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") can be viewed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

In the first quarter ended July 31, 2017, the Company focused its resources on a number of growth initiatives by investing in:

1. The building and opening of new laboratory facilities in early May 2017 to increase operational efficiency and to expand capacity to undertake production of humanized antibody production.
2. The development of sales and marketing structures and initiatives including outreach activities.
3. The implementation of enterprise solutions for sales, finance, IT and HR to support core growth of the business and strategic acquisition activity and streamlined its contract administration to maintain and facilitate long term business relationships with its clients.

The Company also initiated research and development activity to expand its core business by the development of humanizing platforms for the production of humanized antibodies.

Further, as part of the Company's focus to aggressively expand its share of the USD$2.6 billion research and development antibody market, delivering its products and services to academic, diagnostic, biotechnology and pharmaceutical customers globally, the Company entered into a binding agreement to acquire all the outstanding shares of U-Protein B.V. ("UPE"), which was successfully completed the acquisition of UPE on August 22, 2017.  As a result of the acquisition, the Company anticipates a positive increase in its revenue and an expanded portfolio of services on a going forward basis.

For the three months ended July 31, 2017 the Company recorded revenue of $591,058 compared to $727,425 during the three months ended July 31, 2016. This reduction in revenue stems from the Company focusing on investments to facilitate long term growth in capacity and margins, expansion in the core business and acquisition activities.

For the three months ended July 31, 2017 the company incurred an operating loss of $857,832 compared to a profit of $148,939 for the same period during the previous year. The operating loss was primarily due to the costs related to the Company continuing to make foundational growth-enabling investments in research and development, management and technical personnel, operational efficiency and measures to improve gross margins, capacity expansion of its laboratory facilities, and strategic acquisition activities. In the second quarter, the Company anticipates that these investments will begin demonstrate that the Company can maximize its return on any growth in revenue.

"It is important to emphasize that strategically, we have made significant growth enabling investments in 2017 and have laid the groundwork for ImmunoPrecise's immediate and long-term success," stated Tom D'Orazio, CEO of ImmunoPrecise. "We have increased operational efficiencies, expanded lab capacity, entered the higher margin humanized antibody space, and strengthened our team to help serve our clients demands and grow our business. We see our business inflecting over the coming quarters, specifically as our integration with U-Protein nears completion, thereby expanding our suite of product offerings and opening up Europe for our services on a broader basis."

About ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd.

The Company provides custom antibody engineering and production services and protein expression to support research and development programs at leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as academic research laboratories. 

Antibodies are naturally occurring proteins capable of binding to specific target molecules, or antigens. They have been used very widely in research assays, diagnostics, purification, biologics and therapeutics.

The Company operates from state of the art laboratory facilities located at the Vancouver Island Technology Park in Victoria, British Columbia which house its tissue culture and molecular facilities as well as an animal care unit, and is a member of the Canadian Council for Animal Care and in association with U-Protein Express B.V. its subsidiary laboratory operation in Life Science Incubator, Utrecht Science Park, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

The services offered to customers include the development of mouse and rat monoclonal and rabbit recombinant monoclonal antibodies against a wide spectrum of antigens, as well as polyclonal antibodies, immunologically based assays, and solutions to challenges faced by clients in antibody related research and development.  In addition, cryopreservation services are provided for the storage of valuable biological materials including hybridoma clones, plasmid constructs, and cell lines. The antibodies produced by the Company target a wide variety of environmental, diagnostic and research applications.

The Company employs a highly experienced group of R&D scientists.  Over the last 25 years, investments in innovative and proprietary technologies and methods have vastly improved the speed and efficiency of monoclonal and polyclonal antibody production.

Forward Looking Information

This news release contains statements that, to the extent they are not recitations of historical fact, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. ImmunoPrecise uses words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "expect", "believe", "intend" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by ImmunoPrecise in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. However, whether actual results and developments will conform to ImmunoPrecise's expectations and predictions is subject to any number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties.  Many factors could cause ImmunoPrecise's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties described in the Company's Filing Statement dated December 13, 2016 which can be accessed at www.sedar.com. The "forward-looking statements" contained herein speak only as of the date of this press release and, unless required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise such information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd.

ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd., Phone: [phone] Markham Street, Victoria, BC V8Z 7X8, www.immunoprecise.com; For investor relations please contact: Rob Gamley, Phone: [phone], Email: [email protected], Contact Financial Corp., 810 - 609 Granville St., Vancouver, BC V7Y 1G5

Related Links

www.immunoprecise.com