Concepta : 29-01-2020Trading Update

RNS Number : 2702B

Concepta PLC

29 January 2020

Concepta PLC

("Concepta" or the "Company")

Trading Update

Concepta PLC (AIM: CPT), the innova ve UK personalised healthcare company and developer of the proprietary self-test pla orm ("myLotus®"), the UK's most accurate home-use fertility tracking and pregnancy testing system, announces a trading update.

Following the appointment of Penny McCormick as Chief Execu ve Officer and Maddy Kennedy as Chief Financial Officer in the final quarter of last year, the Company has made substan al progress to establish an effec ve opera onal structure to ensure the commercial success of myLotus®, and to advance new product opportunities.

A product with huge potential with the right marketing strategy and structure

myLotus® is a technologically proven and innova ve product, with tests that are proudly developed and manufactured in the UK, and which has already made a difference to hundreds of women looking to conceive. The product is unique in that it responds to the needs of over half of women who do not have regular cycles, compared to market-standardsemi-quan ta ve tests that will only work accurately for 44% of women*. The Company is not just selling a commodity health product but has the opportunity to support women through informa on and technology once they decide they wish to conceive, helping them to act as soon as possible to maximise their chances of success with full transparency of their personal cycle.

• lising the marke ng and commercial leadership experience brought by new CEO Penny, the Board has reviewed the Company's marke ng strategy and has streamlined the marke ng func on to establish a more effec ve core team to undertake direct

marke ng, knowing that the Company's technology is highly effec ve in helping women pinpoint their op mal me for conception, directly leading to successful pregnancies.

Whilst the Company is in the early stages of commercial roll-out it will build upon strong lis ngs on www.boots.comand grow its presence on Amazon. The Company aims to open-up new channels with a strong awareness campaign in H1 2020 through targeted messaging on paid, earned and owned channels, a greater ownership of digital space, and a targeted PR strategy. To that end a newly upgraded commercial website has been launched (www.mylotus.com) and this will be followed by a fully op mized website launch and cross-channel marketing strategy launched before the end of the first half 2020.

In addi on, the Company expects to launch a modest clinical trial with a leading London hospital in Q1 2020, to further highlight the accuracy of myLotus® when measured against in-clinic processes, and demonstrate the value of this product to the patient.

Cost reductions & move to outsourced manufacturing

The new management team has identified a number of cost reduction opportunities and has already achieved a 30% cost reduction to the current opera ng overhead, the impact of which will be seen in the financial year ending December 2020. In addi on, the Company is considering op ons to outsource manufacturing to a UK based third-party. This will have the added benefit of further reducing the Company's opera onal cost-base and will allow the team to focus en rely on furthering the Company's por olio and commercial ac vi es. As a result of this strategy, the Company's Chief Opera ng Officer, David Darrock, has agreed to stand down with immediate effect.

New product development

Whilst during 2020 the Company will look to establish its current product within the fer lity health space, Concepta will look to build out a portfolio around myLotus® from 2021 onwards. Penny is well-experienced in building a business with a strong por olio of products and has focussed on the manufacturing and commercialisa on of women's health medical devices and newly developed lateral flow technology. A substan al por olio product development programme is now underway, with new products expected to be ready for commercialisation in the next 12 months.

Commenting on outlook and focus, Penny McCormick, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Having joined the Company at the end of last year I am very excited about the prospects for our flagship self-test fer lity test myLotus®. We have made progress quickly and efficiently over the past two months and we have a business with substan al upside opportunity that is now in a position to deliver upon its potential.

"We have a clear opportunity to drive the commercial success of the UK's most accurate home-use fer lity tracking and pregnancy tes ng system and to help women worldwide gain a be er understanding of their fer lity when looking to conceive. I look forward to upda ng shareholders as we execute our commercial plans, in par cular how we can accelerate UK sales growth beyond the thousands of App downloads already achieved, as well as expanding into key European markets. Through the year we expect to be able to update shareholders on the successful targe ng of key fer lity clinic groups as well as execu ng a successful OTC retail pharmacy strategy.

"I joined this Company because of my belief in the commercialisa on poten al of myLotus®, a product that has already been proven in a highly regulated market. My passion and commitment is undiminished a er my first two months at the Company and I am confident and excited about our ability to successfully roll-out this product."

Concepta PLC will be reporting its financial results for the year ended 31 December 2019 year end toward the end of April 2020.

*Alliende et al., Mean versus individual hormonal profiles in the menstrual cycle; Fertility and Sterility 2002.

Concepta plc	www.conceptaplc.com
Penny McCormick, Chief Executive Officer	via Walbrook PR
Maddy Kennedy, Chief Financial Officer
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (NOMAD)	Tel: [phone]
Neil Baldwin
Novum Securities (Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Colin Rowbury
Walbrook PR Ltd (Media & Investor Relations)	Tel: [phone]
Paul McManus	[e-mail]

About Concepta PLC (www.conceptaplc.com)

Concepta PLC is an AIM-quoted pioneering UK healthcare company that has developed a proprietary product, myLotus®, targeted at the personalized mobile health market with a primary focus on hormone tes ng and increasing a woman's chances of naturally getting pregnant and to provide insight to unexplained infertility.

myLotus® is currently the only consumer product which allows both quan ta ve and qualita ve home (self-test) test measurement of a woman's personal luteinizing hormone (LH) during ovula on and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone level during pregnancy, facilita ng higher concep on rates and early diagnosis of fer lity issues. The proposi on of myLotus® is to empower women to be er understand their hormone levels and menstrual cycle and help women conceive naturally by iden fying their window of fertility and optimal time for conception.

The Company has received CE-mark certification for myLotus® and has launched its first product in the UK. The Company is preparing plans to roll-out across the core EU countries in 2020.

myLotus® is expected to be beneficial to users who have been unable to conceive a er 6 months of trying. This highly mo vated target group of women won't typically be offered medical interven on un l a er 12 months of unsuccessfully trying to conceive, with IVF not usually offered un l a er two years of trying to conceive. Research indicates couples start to take posi ve ac on ahead of this time typically with little medical support to help them do so.

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