Gradientech: Interim report January–March 2026

Gradientech AB (publ) interim report for Q1 2026 is now available on the company's website www.gradientech.se.

First quarter 2026

• Net sales amounted to SEK 626 thousand (943). Please note that quarterly sales may vary as Gradientech’s sales to distributors vary throughout the year.
• Net profit/loss amounted to SEK -21,713 thousand (-18,950).
• Earnings per share before and after dilution were SEK -0.67 (-0.63).
• Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK -17,229 thousand (-19,916).
• Cash and cash equivalents amounted to SEK 1,712 thousand (35,571) as of March 31, 2026.
• Equity amounted to SEK 49,434 thousand (47,905) as of March 31, 2026.
• In January Gradientech´s distributor Iberlab won a direct tender for QuickMIC® in Portugal for the Hospital Unidade Local de Saúde da Guarda (ULS Guarda).  This award underscores the growing clinical adoption of QuickMIC® for routine use and further strengthens Gradientech’s commercial footprint in Southern Europe.
• Gradientech entered in February into an exclusive distribution agreement with ELTA 90 MGR for the commercialisation of QuickMIC® in Greece. The agreement marks another important step in Gradientech’s European expansion strategy and strengthens the company’s presence in Southern Europe.
• In February Gradientech announced a long-term agreement with ELBLAB GmbH in Germany for the use of its QuickMIC® system.
• Gradientech did in February receive feedback from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the company’s submitted 510(k) premarket notification for its QuickMIC® system for ultra-rapid anti microbial susceptibility testing (AST) of bacterial isolates. Following an initial period of interactive review, the FDA has requested additional information, primarily related to cybersecurity aspects of the system, as well as limited additional performance testing.
• At the end of March Gradientech announced the outcome of the new issue of shares with preferential rights for existing shareholders resolved by the Board of Directors on February 26, 2026. The Rights issue subscribed to approximately 87 percent and brought Gradientech with approximately SEK 49.2 million before deductions for issue costs, of which SEK 14 million will be used to offset loans, see further below in section “Significant events after the end of the period”.

Significant events after the end of the period

• In April, registrations were made on two occasions with the Swedish Companies Registration Office regarding the rights issue decided by the Board of Directors on 26 February 2026. After both registrations, which cash flow affects the second quarter of 2026, the share capital amounts to SEK 3,795,035.90 and the number of shares to 37,950,359.
• In mid-April, the company announced promising preliminary results from its ongoing performance study evaluating a second gram-negative panel for the company’s QuickMIC system. The study includes antibiotics that are used as a last-resort treatment option for multidrug-resistant bacteria in sepsis patients, including cefiderocol.
• In April, the company announced that it has been granted patent rights in the US for its single-use test, which is a key component of the CE-marked QuickMIC system.
• In early May, the company announced the publication of a comprehensive European multicenter study showing that the company’s QuickMIC system delivers fast and reliable results for antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) within the same work shift – up to 45 hours faster than conventional methods.
• During April, the Gradientech board of directors and CEO Sara Thorslund jointly agreed that the company needs new leadership to transform Gradientech towards a commercial focus. The recruitment process is ongoing, and a new CEO is expected to take office in the second quarter of 2026. During the transition period, the company’s CFO, Urban Adolfsson, will take office as interim CEO. 

CEO statement

Gradientech started 2026 with continued commercial expansion and several important clinical and strategic advances. During the quarter, the number of contracted European hospitals increased to 20, in line with our targets. Of these, 18 have completed their internal validation enabling the use of QuickMIC® in clinical routine for patient samples. We are also seeing an increase in hospitals in clinical routine, further confirming the growing clinical and commercial impact of our AST solution

The Italian so-called AMCLI study, conducted at four hospitals together with our distributor a.d.a. and the Italian Society of Clinical Microbiology, was recently completed with promising preliminary results. Two of the participating hospitals have already decided to implement QuickMIC® in clinical routine after the study was completed, with one of them choosing to replace previously installed competing fast AST technology to achieve shorter turnaround times. The study is expected to be an important reference point for the definition of clinically effective rapid AST systems in the Italian market.

In the US, the first KOL-study conducted by our distributor Hardy Diagnostics was recently completed at a well-respected hospital. The study shows that QuickMIC® and its US-market adapted antibiotic panel achieve high concordance with established AST and on average over 24 hours faster reporting of results. The study provides further important clinical evidence for continued expansion in the US market.

In April, Gradientech exhibited at the ESCMID Global 2026 trade fair for infectious disease diagnostics in Munich, where a particular interest was directed towards our upcoming second gram-negative panel, which tentatively includes cefiderocol – an important antibiotic for the treatment of multidrug-resistant infections that is currently missing in other automated AST systems.

The development of the QuickMIC® CU as an integrated display solution and improved user experience of the system is progressing, where hardware has been finalised with a planned European market launch in early autumn 2026.

I would like to thank the shareholders for the completed rights issue, which provided the company with approximately SEK 49 million before issue costs and strengthened working capital for continued commercialisation and product development. We are still in a capital-intensive growth phase, where the focus going forward is on increasing the test usage for each installed QuickMIC® instrument used in clinical routine, increasing the number of routine users and securing long-term financing.

We enter the remainder of 2026 with a growing installed base, increasing clinical impact and a product portfolio that continues to differentiate itself through market-leading short turnaround times. The market for rapid susceptibility testing is still in its early stages, and we are confident in the long-term need for ultra-rapid phenotypic AST and the role QuickMIC® can play in the future of infection diagnostics and sepsis care.

Sara Thorslund, CEO Gradientech
Uppsala, 13 May 2026
 

For further information, please contact:
Sara Thorslund, PhD, CEO         
Tel: +46 736 29 35 80                 

Urban Adolfsson, CFO
Tel: +46 708 20 72 09

About Gradientech
Gradientech is a leader in ultra-rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing, developing next-generation diagnostics for infectious disease medicine. Our innovative diagnostic solutions aim to save lives, reduce healthcare costs, and combat the spread of antibiotic resistance – one of our greatest global health threats. Gradientech is headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden. Visit www.gradientech.se for more information.