LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Medical device group RUA Life Sciences said in an update on Monday that trading in the first half had been "strong", with revenue ahead of expectations.

The AIM-traded firm said sales including royalties for the six months ended 30 September increased to £1.1m, representing year-on-year growth of 56%.

Royalties for 'Elast-Eon' increased to £187k, making for an increase of 20% over the same period last year.

Contract manufacturing revenues increased 66% to £0.92m, meanwhile, which the board put down to increased sales volume in the period.

The group said it was "tightly managing" its resources, with cash and cash equivalents at period end on 30 September of £2.5m, down from £3m at the end of March.

Additionally, it said that during the period, a research and development tax credit claim of £0.33m was submitted to HMRC, which was expected to be received "in the short term".

Group losses for the period narrowed by 15% year-on-year, to £1.1m.

Operationally, RUS said its key regulatory and clinical programs were progressing, with its focus on progressing the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pre-submission of its range of Elast-Eon sealed vascular grafts.

The discussions with the FDA to date were described as "constructive", with an agreement on the clinical endpoints and the duration of the required clinical trial.

It said the last outstanding point related to statistical analysis, with RUA's proposal based on the preferred FDA methodology currently under consideration.

RUA said it would update the market on the details of the agreed regulatory process in due course.

"Our biomaterials and contract manufacturing businesses have performed very well over the period, which has further assisted in the tight control of cash, resulting in a strong cash position at the end of the half year," said chairman Bill Brown.

"The outcomes of our discussions with the FDA have been positive, if taking a little longer than we would prefer, and I hope to be able to provide more details on the scale of the required trial relatively soon."

RUA said it would announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 September on 12 December.

At 1620 GMT, shares in RUA Life Sciences were up 4.35% at 36p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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