May 6, 2022

The board sees "substantial upside potential" through a multi-pronged growth strategy Vortex specialises in the capture and analysis of circulating tumour cells found in the bloodstream of cancer sufferers NetScientific PLC (AIM:NSCI) said it is acquiring a 30% stake in former investee company Vortex Biotech in a non-cash transaction. It has conditionally agreed to buy the stake in Vortex Biotech Holdings, an Anglo-American technology group that specialises in circulating tumour cell capture and analysis, which provides doctors and scientists with insights into the prevalence and development of cancers as well as guiding potential treatments. Under previous management, NetScientific completed a forced sale of a 95% holding in the business in 2019. Since being spun out of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Vortex has benefited from US$$38.5mln of historic investment and NetScientific believes the business has been "materially de-risked" in the period since previous management exited. It has made "significant commercial and operational progress, underpinning significant growth prospects", investors were told. With Vortex active in the fast-growing oncology research and liquid biopsy markets, similar to AIM-listed ANGLE, the NetScientific board sees "substantial upside potential" through a growth strategy focused on product and cartridge sales, launching a services lab business, and exploring liquid biopsy opportunities. “The board is accordingly delighted for the group to be in a position to re-acquire an interest in Vortex,” NetScientific added. The consideration for the acquisition is to be satisfied by the transfer of £300,000 of invoices to extinguish obligations and fees payable by Vortex US to EMV Capital for previous services and certain loans made to Vortex by Deeptech. Deeptech was managed by EMV Capital, which has since been bought by NetScientific.