Intelligent Ultrasound Group PLC (LON:MED) have given shareholders an update entailing progress on Wednesday.

The firm said that the ultrasound software and simulation company said that 2019 revenue is expected to be between the £5.7 million and £5.9 million ball park.

Shareholders will be pleased with this figure as it shows a 10% growth from a year ago.

Intelligent Ultrasound said it expects a recently-signed deal with Fujifilm (TYO:4901) SonoSite Inc to help increase future sales in the Simulation division’s point-of-care ultrasound training market.

When looking at the Clinical Artificial Intelligence division, the firm said it had a “very successful” year, with the firm meeting all its commercial and development milestones.

The firm said that it expects to report loss before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of between £3.3 million and £3.4 million, widened compared to an Ebitda loss of £2.7 million in 2018.

The company had previously explained that it had invested heavily into research and development of its Clinical Artificial Intelligence division.

Stuart Gall, Group CEO, commented: “This has been a strong year for the Group. The Clinical Artificial Intelligence Division has performed particularly well, signing its first licensing agreement with a major OEM and progressing commercial discussions for its second AI software product. The reception the Company received at the annual Radiological Society of North America meeting (RSNA) in Chicago was also particularly encouraging. The Simulation Division has worked hard to continue growing revenue and we are confident of continuing the Group’s revenue growth in 2020.”

Progress for Intelligent Ultrasound

At the end of July, the firm saw increased sales and testing of its new AI based offerings within its IU Simulation Division and IU Clinical AI Division during the first half of 2019.

As the first half ended, the Company signed its first long-term licence and co-development agreement for their AI software with a leading ultrasound equipment manufacturer.

The Intelligent Ultrasound Group also formed an alliance with Mediscan Systems to use AI and simulation to improve patient care in India and develop the Group’s ultrasound scan image library.

It seems that the development for Intelligent Ultrasound has paid off following today’s update which has seem positive revenue growth.

Where do Medical Tech rivals stand?

Consort Medical (LON:CSRT) who also operate in the medical tech sector have seen a slower period of trading. Consort said that interim profit was bruised due to an incident at its Aesica Cramlington manufacturing facility.

Consort’s pretax profit for the six months ended October 31 was £1.2 million, far less than the £9.6 million profit posted the year before as revenue fell 4.3% to £146.0 million from £152.5 million.

The incident also dampened the performance of its active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished dose manufacturing unit, Aesica who saw revenues fall from £90.9 million to £81.1 million an 11% slump.

Additionally, AorTech (LON:AOR) have followed in the same footsteps as Consort in giving a modest update to shareholders in November.

The firm said in an update to shareholders said that it had widened its interim loss on costs. However, shareholders did get some consolidation with the fact that revenues had rose.

For the six months to the end of September, the biomaterials and medical devices firm said its pretax loss widened to £239,000 from £225,000 the year before. This was due to administrative expenses rising by 29% to £451,000 from £350,000, as a result of research & development activities.

However revenue, which comes from the licensing of AorTech’s polymer technology, grew by 27% to £299,000 from £236,000 the prior year.

Looking ahead, AorTech said progress over the period has been “very positive”, as the polymer business performs well and plans to developer it further come into place.

The medical technology sector is becoming more and more competitive, however shareholders of Intelligent Ultrasound can be pleased with the update provided today.

There will be optimism that the firm can carry forward strong trading across 2020 and deliver respectable figures across the year.

Shares of Intelligent Ultrasound Group trade at 10p (-7.27%). 8/1/20 15:04BST.

Trans-Siberian Gold plc (LON: TSG) have seen their shares fall on Wednesday afternoon after the firm gave an update about its Asacha gold mine.

TSG is focused on low cost, high grade mining operations and stable gold production from its 100% owned Asacha Gold Mine in Far East Russia.

The Group also holds the licence for the development and exploration of the Rodnikova deposit, one of the largest gold fields in South Kamchatka.

Today, the firm said that analysis showed the resource at the Asacha gold mine had been overestimated.

Initially, shareholders would have been excited about the performance of Trans-Siberian over the last few months, however this will be a little disappointing.

The total measured, indicated, and inferred mineral resource for the Kamchatka-located mine has fallen to 313,000 ounces of gold and 675,000 ounces of silver as at the start of December 2019.

The estimate before the results were published was 553,000 ounces of gold and 1.3 million ounces of silver which showed a 43% and 93% drop respectively.

The Asacha mineral resource covers two zones, and the current mining operation is exploring the Main Zone.

The East Zone is yet to be mined, however shareholders will remain optimistic that Trans-Siberian can pull off some good results.

As Trans-Siberian Gold reported in September and October, preliminary internal estimates of Asacha “indicated the existing in-situ resource may have been overestimated”.

Trans-SIberian explained that the decrease was due to the collapse of older workings on the main zone.

Further drilling and interpretation, tied in with changes to estimation parameters also contributed to the over estimation. The update also mentioned future plans for the firm.

The Group will be conducting both underground and surface drilling campaigns during 2020. A total of approximately 22,000m of surface drilling will target the lateral extents of the Main zone and QV25. A further 2,000m of underground drilling will be conducted on the Main zone at depth.

Chief Executive Alexander Dorogov said: “I am pleased with the work the team at Asacha has done to update the mineral resource estimate. We have invested heavily in improving our understanding of the ore body through a significant drilling campaign which confirms our expectations and provides the basis for better mine planning out to 2024.

“The resource will be supplemented by additional ounces targeted in an accelerated exploration programme as well as existing stockpiles. A new drilling campaign of approximately 8,000 metres around Vein 25 in the East zone is already underway. We are confident we have the time, capital and skills to upgrade the mineral resource at Asacha. Formal guidance for 2020 will follow shortly, but at this stage we anticipate annual gold production to be in line with recent years.”

Fellow Russian Miner – Eurasia Mining

Another firm which operates in Russia, in the form of Eurasia Mining (LON:EUA) has seen its shares become volatile over the last few months.

At the start of December, the firm saw its shares surge as it gave shareholders a confident update on its Russian operations.

Research in Russia found that the whole of Monchetundra, which includes areas where Eurasia does not currently have a licence for, has a potential 40 million ounces of platinum group metals.

Eurasia added – “This data has not been independently verified by Eurasia and other than the area covered by the company’s existing licence, the company does not yet have any other licences in the area. The company would need to verify the data in the Russian Cadastre through additional work and drilling.”

Certainly, shareholders will be keen to see whether TSG can make up lost ground from their previous estimates, and further drilling estimates will be eagerly anticipated.

Shares in Trans-Siberian Gold trade at 61p (-26.51%). 8/1/20 14:23BST.

Over the last few days Finablr (LON:FIN) have seen their shares in free fall following a vicious cyber attack on Travelex.

Today, the firm has tried to reassure shareholders about the potency on the attack saying that it had been contained and that no consumer data has been stolen.

Travelex who was the victim of the vicious cyber attack has a presence in more than 70 countries, and holds a portfolio over 1,200 branches and 1,000 ATM’s worldwide.

Customers of Travelex have said that they have been caught up with their money being left in the midst of a cyber attack.

One customer, Natalie Whiting from Stevenage, ordered £1,000 worth of euros online through Tesco (LON:TSCO).

“I haven’t been able to get a refund of my money, it just seems to be in limbo,” she told the BBC.

As far as public media is aware, the criminals behind the attack have said that are demanding a ransom of £4.6 million or the threat of leaking data and deletion of systems has been poised.

In response to the cyber-attack, which was first discovered on New Year’s Eve, Travelex took all computer systems offline, affecting thousands of sites in dozens of countries.

Cashiers have reportedly been using pen and paper to allow cash flows to continue but high street orders have been happened.

Business partners which rely on Travelex for currency services, like Sainsbury’s, (LON:SBRY) Tesco and Virgin Money (LON:VMUK) have also been affected.

“I ordered over £1,000 of euros from Tesco bank online for collection in my local Tesco store on 31 December, ready to be collected on 3 January,” Ms Whiting told the BBC.

“The money was taken from my account and an order confirmation was sent to me, but I went to Tesco to collect my euros last Friday to be told of the Travelex issue.

“I am now £1,000 out of pocket after saving up for so long and there’s no information or help.”

Are Finablr sorting out the crisis?

“Travelex been successful in containing the spread of the ransomware. Travelex has also confirmed whilst there has been some data encryption, there is no evidence structured personal customer data has been encrypted, and there is still no evidence any data has been exfiltrated,” said Finablr on Wednesday.

“Travelex is gradually restoring a number of internal systems and is working to resume normal operations as quickly as possible.”

“Finablr’s other six brands are not affected and are operating normally. Finablr does not currently anticipate any material financial impact for the group, continues to monitor the situation closely and will update the market as required,” the company continued.

However, a Travelex spokeswoman said on Tuesday night in a statement: “Whilst the investigation is still ongoing, Travelex has confirmed that the software virus is ransomware known as Sodinokibi, also commonly referred to as REvil.”

“Travelex has proactively taken steps to contain the spread of the ransomware, which has been successful. To date, the company can confirm that whilst there has been some data encryption, there is no evidence that structured personal customer data has been encrypted.

“Whist Travelex does not yet have a complete picture of all the data that has been encrypted, there is still no evidence to date that any data has been exfiltrated.”

Reports have suggests that a ransomware gang called Sodinokibi carried out the attack.

The gang have made claims that it first accessed the company’s computer network six months ago and since have downloaded 5GB of customer data, something which will worry the market and consumers.

Thor Mining (LON:THR) have given the market an impressive update on Wednesday afternoon.

The firm said that the final assay results from the Bonya deposits in Australia have confirmed “robust results which can add significantly” to the life of nearby proposed Molyhil project.

The Bonya project which Thor have mentioned is located in the Northern Territory of Australia. Notably, it is held in joint venture with Arafura Resources Ltd (ASX:ARU) who own 60% whilst Thor Mining hold the other 40%.

Thor acts as the project manager, and both the firms buy into the project as per their equity.

Thor said that a total of 11 holes were drilled at the White Violet Deposit, and a further eight at Samarkand to complete a total of 1,386 meters of drilling.

An independent resource geologist has been engaged with the objective of preparing mineral resource estimates for both deposits, Thor Mining said.

Thor comments

Mick Billing, executive chair, said: “The Bonya tungsten deposits are delivering robust results which, we believe can add significantly to the economic life and commercial outcomes of the nearby proposed Molyhil project.”

“The Bonya project hosts additional tungsten and copper deposits, and these will be tested in due course, however our initial focus is likely to remain with the White Violet tungsten deposit, the Samarkand tungsten/copper deposit, and the Bonya copper deposit,” Billing noted.

“It is hoped that these can extend the Molyhil project life of mine towards ten years,” Billing said.

Thor’s Share Placing

At the end of October, Thor announced that they would be conducting a share placing in order to raise £510,000.

The firm said that the raised funds would go towards funding activities in the companies tungsten and copper projects.

Thor issued 255 million shares at a price of 0.2 p each, and was undertaken by Hybridian LLP as lead broker, alongside SI Capital Ltd.

Of the shares raised, 113.3 million shares will be issued shortly, while the remaining 141.7 million shares are subject to shareholder approval at Thor’s annual general meeting on November 28th.

London listed firm Metal Tiger Plc (LON: MTR) said it had bought shares in Thor, buying 22.5 million shares valued at £45,000.

Certainly, the Bonya project has continued to give pleasing results for Thor and shareholders will be impressed about the update today and the update provided in November. Thor should hope that the success can continue across 2020.

Shares in Thor trade at 0.4p (+3.9%). 8/1/20 13:17BST.

Shield Therapeutics PLC (LON:STX) have told the market that they have received a Chinese licence agreement for their lead products.

The firm said on Wednesday that it had reached an agree with Beijing Aosaikang Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (SHE:002755) for the development and commercialization of its Feraccru/Accrufer in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Feraccru/Accrufer is a treatment for iron deficiency in adults with or without anemia.

Just one year ago, the firm saw its shares rise at it was developing its Feraccru medication.

In January 2019, Shield Therapeutics announced hat it has reported positive results from a study of an iron deficiency treatment in adults suffering from inflammatory bowel disease as shares in the company were trading almost 11.5% higher following the announcement.

At the time, Dr Mark Sampson commented “Iron deficiency is a significant and progressive issue in patients with chronic renal disease which has been challenging to treat due to poor compliance with traditional oral iron salts. These results suggest that Feraccru offers a well-tolerated and effective treatment option which can benefit patients over the long-term.”

It seems that the development and progression of the medication has been a success from todays update.

The firm said today that it will receive an initial upfront payment of $11.4 million and could receive a further $11.4 upon approval of Feraccru/Accrufer in China.

Shield Therapeutics said it also will receive up to $40 million in milestone payments upon the achievement of specified cumulative sales targets.

Beijing Aosaikang Pharmaceutical have said that they will be responsible for clinical and regulatory costs along with distribution and manufacturing costs.

Carl Sterritt, chief executive officer, said: “The market in China for novel prescription pharmaceuticals continues to grow rapidly and this agreement will mean more patients with iron deficiency will benefit from Feraccru/Accrufer therapy, enabling them to enjoy the things that make a difference in their everyday lives.”

Pharmaceutical expansion into China

Many firms have been trying to gain Chinese regulatory and marketing approvals in China to distribute their products.

Notably, AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) updated the market by saying that it had won approval in China for its Roxadust medication.

The firm said that it had reached an agreement with with Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) on its marketing authorization from China’s National Medical Products Administration for their Lynparza drug.

Certainly, many UK and US based pharmaceutical firms are looking to swiftly move into the Chinese market before it gets saturated. However, Shield Therapeutics should be pleased as they have the backing and costs covered from a firm with reputation.

This will present a great opportunity for Shield to invest and develop their products whilst gaining Chinese recognition.

Shares in Shield Therapeutics jumped 3.41% to trade at 178p. 8/1/20 12:16BST.

Avacta Group PLC (LON:AVCT) have seen their shares spike as the firm told the market about a new joint venture.

Avacta’s focus is on its proprietary Affimer technology which is an engineered alternative to antibodies that has application in Life Sciences for diagnostics, therapeutics and general research and development.

Today, the firm saw its shares spike 7.43% to trade at 18p. 8/1/20 11:49BST.

Avacta have landed an impressive joint venture in South Korea with titan Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (KRX:069620).

Avacta will hold a 45% stake in the joint venture, as this new project looks to develop a new class of mesenchymal stem cells which will produce affimer proteins.

These type of stem cells are used as agents for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

In the partnership, Daewoong will be providing the technology to access the generation of stem cells from a single donor.

Additionally, Avacta have pledged to develop these affimer proteins, which will be integrated into the stem cells.

The icing on the cake was reached for Avacta, when Daewoong said they will totally cover research & development costs for Avacta’s development of the proteins.

“Cell and gene therapies are attracting intense clinical and commercial interest. We are very excited to establish this joint venture with Daewoong, one of the top pharmaceutical companies in Korea, to develop the affimer platform in this important therapeutic area. Our vision is to combine our platforms to create the next generation of cell therapies, for which the potential is huge,” said Chief Executive Officer Alastair Smith.

Rise of Gene Therapy market

Many pharmaceutical firms are looking at the gene therapy market as a way to expand market presence and become a market innovator.

In this sector, a noteworthy name in Yourgene (LON:YGEN) is worth mentioning.

Yourgene Health is an international molecular diagnostics group which develops and commercialises genetic products and services. The group works in partnership with global leaders in DNA technology to advance diagnostic science.

The firm has seen a productive few months of trading, and in December the board remained confident to smash expectations.

The molecular diagnostics group said that in the six months ended September 30, its’ revenue doubled to £7.8 million from £3.9 million in the comparative period a year ago.

Notably, gross profit rose to £4.7 million from £2.0 million which will impress shareholders in a period of tough market conditions and stiff competition.

Roche make move into Gene Therapy

Another notable merger into the gene therapy market came from Roche Holding Ltd. Genussscheine (SWX:ROG).

In December, Roche announced that they had completed the purchase of gene therapy specialist Spark Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ONCE).

The deal is valued at $4.3 billion and has been formally completed following clearance from the British and US competition authorities, and becomes Roche’s second acquisition in a short space of time following the recent deal with US based Promedior.

Roche has purchased US based Spark Therapeutics to expand in gene therapy and boost its market in hemophilia A, where Roche’s existing drug will surpass $1 billion in sales across 2019.

Certainty, Avacta seemed to have landed a winner here. The innovative nature of the company combined with the titan technology and reputation of Daewoong will certainly please shareholders.

Resolute Mining Limited (LON:RSG) have reassured shareholders for 2020 guidance following a mixed year for the firm.

Resolute reportedly missed their production guidance after they saw problems at their operations in Mali, which stagnated production and supply lines.

In the three month period, ending in December the firm reported production of 105,293 ounces of gold which saw a 2% rise.

Looking at the yearly figures, the report was a little disappointing. Annual production totaled at 384,371 ounces which fell short of the guidance which was given by Resolute around the 400,000 benchmark.

The firm was quick to defend itself as it said that production volumes lost in 2019 would be made up across 2020 as the firm looked to please shareholders about the resilient nature.

The Syama mine, which is located in Mail accounts for over 50% of total production or Resolute and henceforth the disruptions significantly skewed production totals.

“The unscheduled material loss of production from the Syama sulphide circuit was balanced by the outperformance of the Syama oxide circuit, and strong performance from Resolute’s Mako gold mine in Senegal and the Ravenswood gold mine in Queensland,” said Resolute.

John Welborn – Managing Director and Chief Executive comments

“Syama sulphide production fell well short of our expectations in both the September and December quarters. Our operating and project teams have worked hard to offset lost production with strong performance from our other operating assets.

“The repairs to the Syama roaster are now complete and the sulphide circuit is ready for a strong performance in 2020. In addition to managing the challenge of the Syama roaster repairs, we have made significant progress in delivering on our strategy during 2019.”

“We have now fully commissioned the Syama underground mine, refurbished the Syama sulphide circuit, acquired the Mako gold mine on highly value accretive terms, generated excellent exploration success at Tabakoroni, completed stage one of the Ravenswood expansion project, and significantly progressed the strategic review of Bibiani. With a pipeline of growth opportunities and Syama positioned to deliver on its potential, I am highly optimistic for 2020,” Welborn continued.

Optimism for Resolute?

In December, the firm made two big announcements which would have pleased shareholders. Firstly on December 16, the firm said that it had appointed a new CFO.

Resolute said it had appointed Stuart Gale as chief financial officer with effect from January 20, 2020. He will be replacing Lee-Anne de Bruin, who will be stepping down after three years in the role since 2017.

Gale will be joining from Australian iron ore company Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) where he was group manager for Corporate Finance for nine years since 2010.

Additionally, just a couple days on the firm signed a power supply agreement with Aggreko PLC (LON:AGK).

The plans come into action following an ensured effort to lower operating costs for Resolute, and the new plans will help reduce power costs by around 40%.

Resolute Chief Executive John Welborn said: “Aggreko is the right partner to support our power ambitions at Syama. I am delighted work has commenced and that we will deliver the power cost savings we have promised at Syama.

The initial phase of the power station is expected to be worked on and completed in early 2020.

Certainly, shareholders can carry optimism forward for 2020. It was the case that the firm did see production lower than expected, however given the confidence expressed from Resolute today there is much reason for shareholders to be excited.

Shares in Resolute trade at 66p (+1.97%). 8/1/20 11:42BST.