RUA Life Sciences PLC on Monday said its Contract Manufacture business is growing in scale, and that two of its other businesses have met important testing milestones.

Shares in RUA were up 45% at 22.90 pence in London on Monday afternoon.

The Glasgow-based medical technology holding company said that in accordance with a strategy review undertaken 18 months ago, its RUA Contract Manufacture business has been focusing on larger opportunities with a particular focus on de-risking supply chain issues.

RUA, which is focused on exploiting long-term implantable biostable polyurethane Elast-Eon, said that ‘just such an opportunity’ is currently progressing.

RUA added that ‘more importantly’, it recently received a formal bid request for a product range with around £1.5 million in revenue potential; another customer is expected to submit a bid request worth around £500,000 within the next few months.

‘The progression of sales discussions into formal bid processes gives the board confidence that the company is on track to meet its objective of doubling the scale of the Contract Manufacture business in the medium term,’ RUA commented.

RUA also said its Structural Heart business has exceeded management expectations for developing and testing its composite material for the creation of heart valve leaflets. The firm has achieved multiple ‘key milestones’ including a recent patent filing and testing showing the material’s valve efficiency to be around 50% better than current technology.

RUA said it now intends to accelerate Structural Heart’s commercial potential by formalising deals to provide the composite material to companies in the heart valve industry.

RUA Vascular, meanwhile, is now ‘fully prepared’ to commence the regulatory testing regime agreed with the US Food & Drug Administration to achieve clearance under the 510k regulatory pathway. Milestones surpassed include a ‘global distribution partnership’ to allow a simplified route to market, and an attractive cost of goods analysis for the manufacturing process.

RUA intends to seek third-party funding to finance clinical trials. However, it said its changed strategy ‘dramatically reduced’ future funding requirements, and that recent progress from Contract Manufacture and Structural Heart has paved the way for RUA ‘to reach profitability and cash generation in a significantly shorter timeframe.’

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