BTG expects sales to beat forecasts

Pharmaceuticals and medical technology company BTG said it could beat its full year revenue targets thanks to growth in 'interventional medicine'.

BTG said turnover was expected to be "at or above the upper end" of its previous guidance range of £535-565m for the year ended 31 March.

In a year-end trading statement, chief executive Louise Makin the business had performed well over the year.

"We have made significant progress in executing our strategy to become a leading provider of Interventional Medicine therapies. We have expanded the portfolio both organically and through acquisition and have delivered good revenue growth."

She said a strong performance from TheraSphere, tiny glass spheres that deliver targeted radiation doses straight into tumours, and the £58m acquisition of Galil Medical (http://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/btg-buys-galil-medical-for-inital-583--1153503.html), a specialist in cryoablation products for the treatment and palliative care of kidney and other cancers, combined to helped cement a strong position in interventional oncology.

EKOS, which uses acoustic pulses to dissolve blood clots, also continued to increase market penetration, and Makin also hailed the milestones reached in a number of earlier-stage businesses.

"There is good momentum across our business and we start the new financial year with confidence," she said.

Sales of Varithena, an injectable foam that collapses diseased varicose veins to move blood flow to healthier veins, increased over the year in response to market access initiatives, and there was good progress made towards establishing new reimbursement codes that will cover the its use from January 2018.

Revenue from PneumRx, an early stage interventional pulmonology business, is lower than in the prior year its main market of Germany, but plans are afoot to revive growth.

A rolling pre-market authorisation submission has been completed in the US and the file is now being reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration.