Ondine Biomedical Inc on Wednesday reported a narrowed loss and was unfazed by an ‘anticipated’ drop in revenue and increased expenses, and said it had ‘strong conviction’ in its long-term prospects.

Ondine Biomedical, a Vancouver-based life sciences company specialising in photodisinfection therapies, said its pretax loss narrowed to C$19.5 million in 2022, around £11.5 million, from C$50.1 million the previous year.

Ondine said revenue fell by 75% to C$600,000 in 2022 from C$2.6 million in 2021. It said this decrease was ‘anticipated’ and mainly due to certain pandemic-related sales having declined as vaccinations became available.

Total expenses increased 1.5% to C$19.1 million from C$18.8 million. These included a 26% increase in research and development expenses to C$6.3 million from C$5.0 million, primarily due to costs from three clinical studies. Marketing and sales expenses more than tripled to C$1.4 million from C$364,000.

However, Ondine Biomedical’s general and administration expenses fell by 16% to C$10.9 million from C$13.0 million, and cost of goods sold decreased 73% to C$351,000 from C$1.3 million.

Ondine did not declare a dividend for 2022, unchanged from 2021.

Looking ahead, Ondine said it may curtail operations if it cannot generate positive cash flows. However, Chair Jean Charest said Ondine was ‘in an exceptionally strong position’.

Chief Executive Officer Carolyn Cross said Ondine had ‘paid [its] dues and is now looking forward to a bright future’, and that ‘we remain excited by the broader applications of our photodisinfection platform technology.’

‘Now more than ever, as healthcare systems continue to struggle with record patient backlogs, staff shortages, and inflationary pressures alongside rising antimicrobial resistance, we have strong conviction in the long-term prospects for our business,’ Cross added.

Shares in Ondine Biomedical were down 2.6% at 18.50 pence in London on Wednesday morning.

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