Welcome to the quarter one report from Lifecare 2024. As usual, the full quarterly report is available for downloading at lifecare.no. This has in addition been distributed at the news web service from Oslo Stock Exchange. I'll start with the financial highlights for the first quarter. As in previous quarters, the internal group priorities are still reduced. We are reducing the capacity, providing third-party services, compared to previous periods. The reason for this is our focus on building up our manufacturing, and hence we are, our focus and our resources on the internal needs of Lifecare rather than to sell services to third-party, customers. One can say that this is the price we pay to build up a production, and a commercial, company. On the other, side of this, the operating costs are, still in line with our forecasts and expectations.
One part of this is that we have increased the salary costs due to new strategic positions in the group, and in addition also, transition of key consultant personnel from consultancy and into the group employees. Our equity and cash position are approximately at the same level as in previous years. I will continue to go through our roadmap progress as usual. As you will see, we have met our milestones on a continuous basis from the third quarter of 2023 throughout the fourth quarter. Now, in the first quarter of 2024, the situation is somewhat different. First of all, we have been able to meet our main goal for the quarter to do automated pilot production.
This is paving the way for automated production, which is the key goal for basically the year, but we envision that we will do that within the end of the second quarter of 2024, and on that basis, be able to do a product launch in the veterinary market. However, what we see on the study side is that we are still delayed on our second study, which is the longevity study to be done in dogs. The reason for this is basically engineering issues that we are working on continuously. However, in our company, we are focusing the resources on the pilot production and then also the automated production upcoming. So we are introducing the new component in our longevity study with the radio communication, and we still have some issues with the distance of the reading.
We are getting progress in getting there, but it is delayed still. We hope to be able to start this study now in the second quarter of 2024. This has the effect that we are all then also waiting to file the approval of the third study and also doing the pre-IND meeting with the FDA because it does not make any sense for us to actually file for an approval until we have the form factor of the sensor finalized and also tested through the second study. What we have done, which is not marked here, is that we have identified our test site in the U.S.
We have not formally entered into the agreement because that will also depend on the meeting with the FDA and also then the protocol development, but the test site in the U.S. has been identified in the first quarter of 2024. The outlook for the rest of the year is, of course, of high importance, and the most important thing for us now is to establish the automated production in Mainz, Germany. But this will be based on the pilot production goal that we already met. And the overall goal is to be able to do the automated production by end of the second quarter of 2024. This is a goal that is tough, and we still expect to meet it. However, I have to inform you that we are meeting some delays in the transportation of our clean room.
As this has been shipped, it has been shipped from Asia to Europe, there are disruptions in the logistics worldwide due to the Suez Canal disruptions. Hence, it has to be shipped around Africa, so it will be arriving at our production site in June instead of May, and hence we will get a bit more of a workload to be able to meet our aim to do automated production by end of June, June 2024. We are positive and hope to reach that goal, although it will be a bit more intensive work towards the end of the period. Second, the big outlook for 2024 is to do the first sales in the veterinary market, and then also third to initiate the regular to regulatory study for the human market, in 2024. Going through the operational highlights, I want to emphasize three highlights.
First of all, coming back to pilot production, reaching the target of pilot production of our sensors was a major breakthrough for our manufacturing preparations and also a significant milestone for the company. This is an achievement that confirmed that we can effectively manufacture our glucose monitoring sensors for humans and pets. And doing the pilot production is paving the way for our automated production and even also the volume production that we will initiate work on already as soon as the automated production has been finalized. However, it will be engineering work and debugging work, so we expect to do volume production when we move into our new volume production facilities around mid-2025, and from that point on, we expect to increase and then enter into the volume production phase.
So the next steps in our preparations now is to meet the target of automated production by end of the second quarter. The second highlight I want to share with you is actually from April and not from the first quarter. As you might have noticed, we have done an investment in technology for the removal of sensors. So we have invested NOK 2 million in a private placement in a Norwegian company called RemovAid, and we now hold a stake of more than 80% of this medtech company.
The thing with RemovAid is that they have developed a unique and user-friendly medical device for removal of subdermal implants, and this is obviously relevant for Lifecare as a sensor company, and it will be relevant for our application area as this puts us in a position where we are able to actually use the technology from RemovAid to and customize this to our sensors to be able to effectively remove the sensors when they are out of action again. As our sensor also will be injected under the skin, we expect to take benefit from the RemovAid technology. This is then a strategic investment. They are based today on removal of female contraceptives.
We believe that this investment will strengthen our position in the market, and will position us to bring forward solutions for the entire life cycle of our glucose sensor. Third, I want to highlight the fact that we recently announced the intention to initiate a share capital increase in Lifecare, raising NOK 75 million-NOK 90 million in a rights issue, which is, of course, subject to an EGM approval that is summoned for May 16th, meaning next week. All existing shareholders in Lifecare as of May 16th will receive preferential subscription rights, ensuring an equal treatment of all shareholders in the company. Certain existing shareholders alongside a new investment company group have underwritten a total of NOK 75 million in the rights issue, and this means that they are guaranteeing for this amount in the rights issue.
All subscribers in the capital increase will receive warrants for subscription rights exercisable also in June 2025. So for every second subscription in the rights issue, the subscribers will receive one warrant that will be exercisable in approximately a year from now. And on this basis, it's fair to conclude that Lifecare now is fully financed towards the commercialization of the Sencell for glucose monitoring. I'm moving on to a few questions that we have received in advance of this webcast, and please feel free to ask any questions that you might have in the chat function in Teams. The first question we have received in advance is whether you can elaborate more on the significance of the investment in RemovAid. And of course I can do that.
Just as, as already mentioned, the investment in RemovAid is first and foremost a strategic investment. It puts us in a position to adjust the existing technology of RemovAid into an operational technology for the removal of Lifecare's sensors. The position of RemovAid as of today is that they are ISO certified and they have a CE-approved product in the market. This product is designed and is also patented to remove female contraceptives. So in addition to the strategic investment with the technology focus for the Lifecare side, there is also a commercial side of this investment where we envision that we will be able to capitalize on the existing product in the company and to increase the sales beyond Norway towards bigger markets.
Another question is whether we can say anything more about the study related to dogs, and I touched that topic initially. We are still waiting to start this study due to engineering work on the radio communication part. We have focused in the period of the first quarter, obviously, to be able to reach the target of pilot production. And we are allocating resources both internally and externally to solve the engineering issues on the radio communication and integration of the radio communication chip. This is a question of when we are meeting those requirements, not if. So it's taken a bit more time, but I think the most important thing to say here is that it's not affecting our production preparations.
A financial question is whether the net results will be the same going forward or if the burn rate will increase. And I think it's in general the net results going forward will be at the same level. However, we have been increasing the costs, based on the fact that we have been going from the R&D phase and into the manufacturing preparation, and we will continue, of course, to focus on the manufacturing preparations so that we get into the automated production and also the volume production phase. In addition, of course, we have to also initiate preparations on the commercializations as is. Hence, we will expect that the costs will increase rather than decrease going forward, but in general, at the same level as we have seen up to now.
Furthermore, on the same topic, whether there are any major investments in the time leading up to market launch, and the answer to that is basically no. We do not expect any major investments going forward. The major investments now have already been done. The next investment phase of the company is expected to be when we are ready to establish volume production based, of course, on demand. But that will, of course, be a totally different picture when we are then starting and have already commercialized and are ready to sell and are selling, hopefully. I see there are, furthermore, questions in the chat now. The first one is from Filip Einarsson. Could you expand on the investment in RemovAid? Also, are there more opportunities in the life cycle of Sencell where you see you can provide value through investments and acquisitions?
I think I already did, did explain the investment in RemovAid. It's, it's a combined it's a strategic investment that is combined between technology but also, commercial interests with the focus, however, on the technology, that we gain through that, through that investment. Yes, we do see opportunities for the life cycle of Sencell, that will provide value through strategic cooperations. I think I will say, Philipp, we, we have on, ongoing discussions that will lead us into interesting, strategic cooperations providing value, for the life cycle of our total project. Arlax has asked, has sent in a quite a long question, so I'll split it up. I'm sorry, I forgot one question from Filip Einarsson. On the topic of the veterinary launch, are there any updates on the path of commercialization in terms of partnership and distributors?
No, there are no updates on this path to the extent that we can inform anything about the ongoing discussions in that field. It's, as communicated previously, we are working on partnering in the veterinary direction. And we still are quite confident, or we are confident, that we will be able to launch the first product in the veterinary market in 2024. Then going on to Arlax's question, how will the Sencell sensor implanted in a human be located? And that's, of course, an interesting and good question. It will be located in the lower arm, in the wrist of the arm, underneath the skin, approximately 8 millimeters or closer to the skin.
and then when we expect to receive the delayed production equipment, well, to sort that out, the production equipment is ready for delivery, and we are waiting for the clean room to be shipped from Asia. It was expected to be on site in Mainz, in May. The reason due to the disruptions in the Suez Canal, it has to go around Africa. So we expect now that it will be on site in Mainz in the second half of June. As soon as the clean room has been set up in our production facility, we will be able to put our the additional and the, of course, the core production equipment into the clean room and into the production facility. And from that point on, we will be able to do the process transfer from pilot production and into automated production.
If all goes as planned, we expect to do that by end of June. But as you obviously understand from this explanation, whether it is the last day of June or the third day of July, that is where the question is, so we are not facing any significant delays based on the delay of the clean room. Furthermore, going on questions from Arlax, what will be the production capacity, number of sensors per day, hour with the production equipment you expect to have available later this year? And that is a question that is kind of it's not completely clear to us because we have not met the target of automated production yet.
So the actual throughput, in terms of sensor production in the existing or the infrastructure that we are setting up, is not finely defined. But we do believe that it's the production line that we are setting up is expected to meet the demands from start so that we are able to do a production, a product launch in the veterinary market in 2024. And of course, as soon as we have the production line up and running, it's a question of how many machines we need. But we will start with one line and we will then define the throughput on that basis. And then there is a new question. Are there more Sanofi milestones to be achieved? Without going into details, I can confirm that there are more Sanofi milestones that we will achieve.
Then, Arlax continues with the question, what device will be used to inject the sensor? Will the Sencell sensor be sold with an injection device or how will this function in a veterinary doctor's office? It will be injected by the help of a syringe. So it will be basically put in the tip of the syringe at our production facilities and of course sterilized, et cetera, and then sent out to the customers, the veterinary and then later also the doctors will inject it with the syringe directly underneath the skin. And yes, that also confirms that the sensor will be sold with the injection tool. So as the sensor will be inside the injection tool when arriving to the customer or the user.
What will be the expected guarantee period life for the sensor for diabetics and how long before the guarantee expires does the sensor need to be replaced in a diabetic patient? So our overall aim is to have a minimum of six months longevity. We often refer to that theoretical lifetime of the sensor being way longer than six months. But we have, at least, confirmed the longevity in vitro in the laboratory of six months. We don't see any showstoppers in that respect. So we will go for a six-month lifetime. And a new sensor will need to be replaced at the same time as the first one is taken out. So there is no run-in period on the sensors more than an hour or so, of course.
What happens if you inject a new sensor before the previous old one expires and the old one is not removed? Will there be conflicting signals, information from the sensors, or can you shut the old one down? First of all, we are, of course, working based on regulatory requirements in the human field, and we have GDPR regulations that obviously are strong in that field. So the sensors will have dedicated sensors, signals, and they will be individualized. So, there will be no issue referring to having one or more sensors in the body at the same time. The signals will be individualized, and will be, of course, then sorted in the readout device.
So, the answer to that question is that basically nothing happens if you inject a new sensor before the previous expires. You will have a double set of signals, at worst. And then KRA has asked if we, do you have your own readout app device or use some commercially available apps, watch, iPhone? Currently we do not have our own app. The reason for this is that we are looking for partnering when we are going to the market, and hence we do expect that our future partners probably will have an app infrastructure that they want to integrate our signals in. However, we are moving on that field, and I am looking forward to give an update on that within not too long.
that will then you will get a better answer to your question, KRA, when we are actually ready to disclose new information on that point. And then T has asked whether there are strategic partners that can help with development or take the product to the market. The answer is definitely yes. We, our overall plan is to be able to partner up both in the veterinary field and also in the human field with strategic partners holding with global interest. And that is ongoing in terms that we have a production agreement with Sanofi, where they also have a first right of refusal for a license of our technology globally, for the use in human diabetes patients. And Arlax is rephrasing his first question again. How will you, how will you relocate, find again a sensor that has been already implanted for removal?
I got you, Arlax. Well, you either find it physically because it will only be a few millimeters below the skin. So even though it's small, it's still something that you should be able to find by the use of the fingertips. If that's not possible, it is visible by using general tools at the doctor's office so that you will find it by the help of such tools. I don't see any additional questions. So I will give you a few seconds. If any of you are writing right now, just give me a quick message so that I can wait even longer for you to finalize the question. Does not seem to be the case. Then I hope that this presentation was informative.
I think that we are now going into an extremely interesting phase, looking very much forward to be able to meet the target, of course, of automated production, but also to initiate the hard work that we need to do to be able to go into the veterinary market and also to take advantage of the investment that we have done now in RemovAid. It is also reassuring from a company side to know that we now have a financing structure that will bring us forward towards our ultimate goal to help both humans and pets with diabetes. As always, I encourage you to contact me directly. If you have any questions, whether you call me or email me, you will find the contact points on our website.
I look forward to hearing from you when you have any questions. So thank you for your participation today and have a great day. Bye bye.