In its Q1 report, published this week, the company explained that it “is no longer necessary for the company to operate a farm in Panama”, at a site that was "originally set up in 2008 as a demonstration grow-out location for AquAdvantage Salmon in conjunction with the company’s New Animal Drug Application with the FDA".

The Q1 report also revealed net losses deepened to $2.76 million, compared to $2.45 million in the same quarter of 2018. 

However, the report contains plenty of positives, not least the lifting of the FDA’s import alert, allowing the company to stock its genetically modified AquAdvantage Salmon eggs at its Indiana farm; the approval by Environment and Climate Change Canada for the company’s Rollo Bay production facility for the commercial grow-out of the same fish; and the completion of a public offering of common shares, which raised funds of $6.1 million.

Sylvia Wulf, CEO of AquaBounty, stated: “We ended the first quarter on a very positive note with the FDA’s lifting of the Import Alert on AquAdvantage Salmon and the successful completion of an equity fundraise. The action by the FDA will allow us to stock our Indiana facility with our fast-growing salmon eggs, while the new funding provides us with the needed resources to improve our balance sheet and grow out our fish at both our Indiana and Rollo Bay farms.”