All right. Good afternoon and good morning, depending on where you are in the world. My name is Dan Schneider, President and CEO of Photocure, and you're here for the Photocure second quarter 2025 results. With me today is Erik Dahl. Just a reminder, the usual disclaimers are in effect for today's presentation. I thought I'd start just kind of reiterating our strategic priorities and initiatives before I get into what I think was a very, very good quarter for Photocure. First block, accelerate and expand. I think what's important to keep all this in the background of what we've been focused on over the past couple of years, delivering on our financial growth, both revenue and EBITDA this year, and continue generating operating leverage. I believe this is our ninth quarter in a row of positive EBITDA, and that leverage continues to build.
Driving the BLC mobile strategy in ForTec is doing quite well for the U.S. and is increasingly becoming an important part of our opportunities there. For Europe, increasing penetration in the priority growth markets, Italy, France, U.K., and expand our geographic footprint, which we mentioned in Q2. We now have expanded into Spain. I'll go into that in more detail, but it is one of the larger markets in all of Europe, and it was a market that we were in many years ago when GE had launched back in 2006, 2007. Second block, positioning and access. BLC is positioning to be the primary diagnostic used in precision medicine. That's the way we see it. We see it as the godfather, and we want to maintain that positioning. It's key to the detection, surveillance, and therapeutic monitoring of these expensive therapeutics coming onto the market.
The high-depth technologies are entering the market. We've had upgrades now in all three of the major manufacturers, the most recent one being Olympus in Europe. That has already had an impact, particularly in Germany, Austria, and now the Nordics as we move through the second quarter. We're very pleased with that development. Of course, we partnered with Richard Wolf for Blue Light flex development for the world's only 4K high-def system that we currently think is, or we currently is on track. In the interim, we do have and figured out an interim solution that is being implemented and has already had cases go off in the second quarter. We'll talk more about that in the U.K. The third block, the acquire and transform, looking across non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and Uro-Oncology in general, there's some really fast-moving, rapidly growing interest in precision diagnostics.
As Blue Light Cystoscopy remains the godfather in this space. We believe that coordinating it has synergistic effects with a lot of the other things going on in this space and opens up some real opportunities for Photocure to expand our offerings. Real-time examples of that are even the Richard Wolf high-definition 4K flex development that we're developing on a worldwide basis. Of course, leveraging the mobile solution with ForTec and continuing to look for these strategic partnerships and opportunities. Let's go into the second quarter. Obviously, I started off today by saying I'm very pleased with the overall results. Overall, we had 11% revenue growth and an all-time high of NOK 135.6 million. It was a 9% increase in units globally.
In North America, we delivered a 14% unit growth and a 15% revenue growth, offsetting the continued flex decline, which we estimate to be - 46% in the second quarter and - 60% overall in the first half of the year. We see this continuing to bleed out to the end of this year. The installed base of Blue Light equipment continued to increase with three tower placements and nine upgrades in quarter two. I'll talk about this a little bit more, but importantly, you should understand that Karl Storz signaled that they're doing a Saphira promotional program that begins on July 1st and typical of customers, they tend not to buy before they get the sale price. We believe the pipeline is set for the second half of this year. It'll materialize throughout the rest of the year.
We had a fantastic 21% unit growth in the Rigid Surgical Market, and this is inclusive of the ForTec Medical mobile solution. Very important, ForTec now represents over 10% of our total business, and it continues to build momentum. It is outpacing our expectations and those of ForTec as well. We're very pleased with the demand that continues to build for the mobile solution. The number of active accounts increased by 24% year- over- year to 359%. This sets the stage for the continued momentum into the future. In EU, revenue was up 8%, units up 8%. Very solid growth in the EU fueled by Germany, Austria, and France with support from Nordics. All the other countries are kicking in. We see positive momentum in all of them. We continue to execute across the Board.
As I mentioned, the Olympus upgrade is key to this execution and has a significant impact for Austria, Germany, and now the Nordics kicking in. A total of 36 new Olympus upgrades, and there's more in the pipeline. We're very pleased with the developments there. As I mentioned, key is the Nordics where Olympus has a very strong presence, and they've begun their upgrades as well as the second quarter, a little bit behind Austria and Germany. Second block, we generated positive EBITDA of NOK 14.8 million. If you take out the BD and milestone, it's NOK 22.6 million. It's our ninth quarter in a row, and we continue building operating leverage through 2025. The balance sheet remains strong with NOK 239.1 million. No long-term return debt. Of course, we bought back half a million shares for treasury stock.
Important news flow w e launched into the Spanish market starting in late June. I'll talk about that when we get to the EU segment. Regarding two major congresses, AUA and EAU, there were significant presentations and discussions of the growing importance of BLC as a precision diagnostic for the diagnosis, resection, and stratification, and ultimately monitoring leading to better informed treatment decisions. It continues to build Blue Light Cystoscopy offerings. the Richard Wolf Interim Solution, the first cases took off in the U.K. in the late second quarter. They went off well. There are more institutions that are interested in trying the interim solution. Key here, just to remind everyone, we ultimately want to bring out the 4K high-definition solution at a very sharp price point on a worldwide basis. We're working on the development with Richard Wolf.
It's going to take us a couple of years to get it through its approvals. In the Interim, we want to try to keep flex surveillance alive, collecting the data, making sure the user experience continues forward. We do not want the market to go cold. This important support coming out of at least starting with the U.K., we'll have other centers throughout Europe that will hopefully implement the Interim Solution and at least try Blue Light Cystoscopy, perhaps with lasers, etc., in the outpatient setting. Partner news, I know there's been a lot of noise on Asieris, particularly with Saphira. There is no real update here. They continue through their interactions with the NMPA. That's the Chinese FDA. There is no statutory requirement on them in terms of timelines. Historical average has been somewhere in the 18-month+ range.
It could be the end of this year, early next year when they get an answer from the NMPA, but I will say that their interactions, at least to date, have been active and ongoing. They're a public company. Therefore, any statements outside of what they've already stated publicly, we cannot say. That's as much as we know. I will remind everyone, should they get the approval for Saphira, that triggers an NOK 11 million milestone payment and a launch in the Chinese market. Data presentations and abstracts, etc. The Danish population study concluded higher levels of BLC use improves in bladder cancer patient outcomes. Basically, Blue Light Cystoscopy you use, the better the outcomes will be for your patients. That was great data coming out of the population study. All right, let's get into the segment trends.
Strong unit sales in both regions, both North America and Europe, delivered their highest quarter of revenue in history. In North America, it overcomes the decline of the flex surveillance market. First half, like I said, was - 60%. It was - 71% or 70% in the first quarter, - 46% flex in the second quarter, averaging out to - 60% on the half. As we move through the year, the percentage decrease probably will start waning. When we get into next year, it's basically now been relegated to a few sites in the U.S. where it's still alive and active and supported. We're trying to keep them going as long as we can to collect the data. Meanwhile, the rigid surgical market delivered a 21% unit growth in Q2, which was fantastic.
Europe's Q2 results surpassed previous high watermarks as the momentum continues to build throughout the region with the upgrades of Olympus to the VISERA 3 . We also have, obviously, Richard Wolf and Karl Storz. The VISERA 3 upgrade particularly impacted DACH, France, and the Nordics. So far, 36 have been upgraded, and there's more in the pipeline for the rest of the year. Moving specifically to North America, even though the downturn in flex at - 46% for the quarter, flex units are now, as a total, roughly 4% of our total sales from a one-time high of 17% to 20%. It was the highest, fastest growing segment for us. We lost it when Karl Storz withdrew the flexible system.
This is why it gives us great excitement and anticipation of the new 4K high-def flexible BLC system that we're working on with Richard Wolf because that market was growing at 30% and 40%. It was a high percentage, and it is a NOK 1.3 billion TAM worldwide. We want to get back into this space. We want to keep it as live as we can, but at least, you know, for now, our flex units in the U.S. are roughly 4%. We see that really going near zero by the time we're this time next year. Despite all this, the rigid growth was 21%. ForTec has added in a lot. Like I said, it's over 10% of our total revenues, our units, and it continues to grow. Twelve new Saphira installed. Reminding everyone, upgrades are important.
When the upgrades happen, we're seeing on average double-digit growth out of these upgrades and sustainable. We're excited about that on both sides, U.S. and Europe. The account growth of roughly 24% in the base. This is, again, more institutions, more physicians using it. Both well for quarters ahead. Mobile ForTec now has reached 70 accounts by the end of June. There's more already. That's + 13 from Q4. It's actually + 13 over the last couple of quarters. It seems to be they're on a trend of adding, you know, roughly 13 and 15 accounts each quarter, but that could accelerate. They anticipate it too. That's reaching over 150 different users, physician users. That demand is growing. The awareness is up. We see this is a key growth driver for our business in the U.S. Access to BLC remains our top priority.
Ongoing efforts with the FDA for reclassification and reimbursement. We are also working with the other manufacturers to support their initiatives to try to make it into the U.S. market. I'll repeat one thing just for the U.S., but also it's across Europe as well. Post AUA and EAU, there were a lot of Blue Light Cystoscopy. there is a growing Blue Light Cystoscopy ability, so with Cysview and Hexvix, its ability to see more assures a physician the ability to perform a more complete TURBT, which leads to more accurate pathology, staging, risk stratification. Ultimately, we see this as potentially helping monitor these expensive therapeutics, giving physicians a more informed precision medicine diagnostic. This is an important trend that's kind of a macro to everything that we're doing here at Photocure.
Going finally to one more chart, active accounts, as I mentioned, they're up 24% for the year- to- date. We have 359 accounts that currently have active Blue Light Cystoscopy. we include the ForTec, and we include anyone who Blue Light Cystoscopy in a 12-month period. This includes reactivated accounts that the U.S. team has worked hard on, where they had old standard definition. They stopped Blue Light. we've got the upgrade support from Karl Storz, and now those accounts are Blue Light Cystoscopy. we see continued momentum in the overall interest in Blue Light Cystoscopy and cysview in the U.S. Finally, turning to Europe, Q1 marks the highest revenue quarter ever, supported by solid growth in the DACH, Nordics, and France. France has growing momentum, and we've had a really strong June, double-digit growth in June.
We're really excited about where France is going, and the rest of the countries are coming on as well as they're moving through the year. The Olympus Viscera 3 upgrades are going extremely well. Thirty-six, as I mentioned, have been installed, 25 in DACH, five in Nordics, but good pipelines behind them. It has a significant impact on the business, so we want to support that as much as we can. The picture to the right of the page actually marks our third bladder cancer tour through Germany. This time, we did it in combination with Merck and Olympus. All three of us came together. If you recall, if you go back five years ago, we did this, I believe it was with Richard Wolf or Karl Storz, I can't remember which one. The next year we did it with the other one, and this year now it's with Olympus.
It's really exciting that they're coming to us wanting to be part of this tour. They had over 18 stops and reached over 500 different healthcare professionals. Very exciting. There was a lot of energy behind it as they toured around the DACH region. As I mentioned in my opening, we did start operations in Spain. We installed an account manager there, country manager in late mid-June, focused on the large metros of Barcelona and Madrid. We have a collaboration with all three of the manufacturers, but I will say that we are leveraging the Olympus launch of VISERA 3 in Spain, sort of the excitement of that and us coming back into the market. There is favorable reimbursement in Spain. It is the largest of the Big 5 in terms of bladder cancer incidents at 19,300 cases per year.
They do over 58,000 TURBTs, as opposed to Germany doing about 105,000. Spain is basically the second largest market in Europe and certainly the second largest of the Big 5. It's reimbursed, as I mentioned. On the guidelines, it has been abandoned since the GE days, and I'll explain that a little bit. The guidelines need to be updated. The medical team is working hard on that. We want to get those up to the EU level guidelines, but to this point, with no focus, no effort in Spain, everyone's sort of, it's sort of gone quiet, but we're going to bring it back. I will remind you, GE launched in 2007, the very first year they did over 1,000 units. It was the fastest growing market they had.
The financial crisis hit Spain, and not only did we find it a challenge, or GE found it a challenge, but that was across the entire MedT ech and L life Science space. A lot of people abandoned it. As you recall, GE then transferred the business over to Ipsen. Ipsen never put a sales force in there. Even when the economy came back, Ipsen didn't go after it. We wanted to establish ourselves in Europe, and then as we planned to get into Spain, we're in a solid place. We expect Spain to start growing as we get towards the end of this year and into next year.
One of the challenges in Spain is the equipment is old, so we need a lot of upgrades, particularly Karl Storz old equipment, and of course the Olympus, but again, we're leveraging the VISERA 3 launch with Olympus, so we think that'll really help put some jet fuel in our efforts. We're also engaged with the top six KOLs in Spain, so we feel like we're in a really good place medically and scientifically. Roughly 270 hospitals perform TURBTs in Spain, of the 326 that have Urology clinics. It's a manageable market. Let's go to slide 10 with growth initiatives and just remind everything some of the key elements and accelerators are in the business if you haven't picked up on it yet. Two things, ForTec, 70 new accounts. They have both our sales force and their sales force incentivized to push the mobile solution.
They try to stack cases, so if they go into a hospital, they want higher throughput. I think this is a really key thing to understand that ForTec makes money the more the machines are being used. There is a lot of effort put into their sales force, their technicians, their incentive comps, and also their offerings, their price offerings to customers to stack cases and increase volumes per machine that goes into those hospitals. Currently, over 150 different users of the machine, and that continues to grow. It is outpacing both our expectations. I said when we launched into this strategic partnership with ForTec that they are quite open to expanding. What I mean by that is they have 18 towers out there. All 18 weren't operational until the first quarter of this year.
As they reach capacity, they are very willing to buy additional machines and build on top of that. This could be an exciting development as things continue to progress with the flex, I mean, with the mobile solution. Everything is on track in terms of flex. The interim solution has been tried in the U.K. The case has gone well. We look to expand it. There are other accounts interested. In terms of development of the high-def 4K system, it's on track. Reminding you, that is a NOK 1.3 billion total addressable market in the U.S. and EU5. We see that as a real opportunity, and we will be the first and only to market with this high-def Blue Light system.
As you think about the macro environment and what's going on with all these therapeutics, having the best way of, you know, the best precision diagnostic to monitor these therapeutics is actually a real benefit for us as we look forward. That's that. Final comment, we'll go to slide 12 on our partnership with Asieris. Reminding you, it's two different products. Hexvix has been approved, but they're awaiting approval of the Richard Blue Light system. That has had some challenges, but they expect it to be approved hopefully by the end of this year, and they'll be able to launch in 2026. Of course, we have some revenue streams coming off of the sales of Hexvix over time. On Saphira, just to be clear, everything seems to be more or less on track.
They're interacting with the NMPA, and we'll hear more from them as things develop and they get a decision out of that. The other kind of development that you could pick up on the public airways from them is they are possibly looking at a second indication. We believe it to be low grade, and if that's the case, that also would trigger the opportunity for additional milestones in regulatory approvals and, of course, ultimately in sales revenue shares. Exciting, looking forward to it, and we'll see more as they progress. With that, I guess I'll turn it over to Erik on the financials.
Thank you, Dan. I will give an overview of the second quarter financials, which includes the consolidated income statement. It's a segment report I will present as well as headlines from the cash flow and the balance sheet. First, a quick word about foreign exchange. Year-over-year and measured by unweighted monthly averages, the Kroner in Q2 appreciated 4.1% against U.S. dollars and depreciated 1% against Euro. Year- date, the Kroner depreciated 0.6% against U.S. dollars and depreciated 1.5% against Euro. If you look at this in terms of Norwegian Kroner, the FX impact for Q2 revenue was negative, approximately NOK 1.3 million, and for OpEx positive, approximately NOK 1.3 million as well. The consolidated impact on foreign exchange on EBITDA was not material. Final remark, as always, all financials in this presentation are in Norwegian Kroner, unless another currency has been specified. Next slide, please.
I'm now looking at the consolidated income statement. Hexvix's revenues in the second quarter increased 11% to NOK 135.6 million, which is all-time high. The sales increase was mainly driven by a combination of volume increase of 9% and higher average pricing in both regions. Partially, this was offset by an expected decline in flexible kit sales in the U.S. and the impact of foreign exchange. The volume growth in the U.S., to some extent driven by customers' orders moved from Q1 to Q2. You will remember Q1 that we had customers that had postponed their ordering, and not all of that came in Q2. Actually, a significant amount of orders is expected to take place the rest of this year. Total revenues in the second quarter decreased 7% to NOK 135.6 million.
The decline was driven by milestone payments received from Asieris, second last from Asieris in Q2 last- year related to the development of Saphira. The impact of foreign exchange on total revenues was approximately NOK -1.3 million in the quarter. Q2 total operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization but including business development, were NOK 110.8 million, and at level with Q2 last year of NOK 110 million. Operating expenses, excluding business development expenses, were NOK 103 million compared to NOK 108.6 million Q2 last year, a decrease of NOK 5.6 million year- over- year. The expense decrease was mainly driven by timing of expenses related to congresses and business meetings, as well as expenses related to FDA adjustments. The decrease was partially offset by merit and inflation. The impact of foreign exchange was positive, approximately NOK 1.3 million in the quarter.
As previous quarters, personnel expenses were relatively stable year-over-year, except for merit increase. However, project-driven expenses, particularly within business development, may vary significantly year-over-year, as well as sequentially between quarters. Business development expenses in Q2 were NOK 7.8 million compared to NOK 1.3 million Q2 last year, and the increase is mainly driven by market research activities and legal fees related to partnership contract support. EBITDA in Q2, including business development expenses and milestones, was NOK 14.8 million compared to last year, NOK 27.8 million. However, last year Q2 included a milestone of NOK 21.6 million from Asieris. EBITDA, including milestone revenue, sorry, EBITDA excluding milestone revenue and business development expenses for Q2 for second quarter was NOK 22.6 million, which is an improvement of NOK 15.1 million from Q2 last year, reflecting improved operating leverage for our core business. Depreciation and amortization was NOK 7.3 million in Q2.
Main cost item was the amortization of the intangible asset related to the return of the European business from Ipsen. Net financial items in Q2 were a net cost of NOK 4.9 million compared to a net cost of NOK 4.5 million in Q2 last year. Net financial costs were driven by foreign exchange losses, as well as accrued interest costs included for the deferred earnout liability due to Ipsen. Tax expenses were an income of NOK 2.4 million for the quarter. The net tax expense is mainly driven by group results, but also intercompany items in the parent company. After net financial items and tax, we have for Q2 a net profit of NOK 4.9 million compared to a net profit of NOK 12.3 million same period last year. Now to the segment performance. Next slide, please. As usual, I will focus on the two main segments, North America and Europe.
I'm starting with the North America segment, which includes the U.S. and Canada. Revenue for North America increased 14% in Q2, and overall volume increased 15%. This was driven by an increase in volume for the rigid surgical market, including in ForTec mobile solutions, as well as an increase in average sales price. This is partly offset by the impact of the phase down of Cysview usage in the flex segment and a negative FX impact. Furthermore, Q2 revenue growth was positively impacted by the delay of orders from Q1 to Q2 and later this year. Q2 direct costs were level with Q2 last year at NOK 45 million. Cost containment and revenue growth have resulted in significant improvements in financial results for the North America region. The contribution has more than doubled to NOK 9.2 million, and we have secured a positive EBITDA for the quarter.
Looking at Europe, the European business had a positive development in the second quarter with year-over-year revenue growth of 8%, mainly driven by Germany, Austria, France, and Nordics. Volume growth was also 8% for the quarter. Q2 direct costs decreased 4% year-over-year, driven by the timing of expenses related to congresses, partially offset by merit, inflation, and FX. We ended Q2 with a contribution of NOK 42 million, which is 54% of revenue, and EBITDA for Q2 was NOK 25.6 million, reflecting an EBITDA margin of 33%. Now let's look at the cash flow and balance sheet. The next slide, please. As usual, I'm looking at year-to-date cash flow and ending balance. Year-to-date cash flow from operations was negative NOK 2.8 million compared to positive NOK 27.9 million year-to-date last year. The difference is mainly due to the milestone of NOK 21.6 million received from Asieris Q2 last year.
Cash flow from investments of NOK 1.3 million year-to-date includes interest received and paid on investments, intangibles, and intangible assets. Cash from financing year-to-date was negative NOK 53.3 million compared to negative NOK 21.1 million year-to-date last year. The amount is driven by the Ipsen earnout payment for both years, as well as a share buyback program's current year. In total, we paid NOK 29.6 million for the 500,000 shares we acquired this year. Year-to-date net cash flow was negative NOK 54.7 million compared to positive NOK 7.5 million year-to-date last year, and the two main drivers for the decline are the Asieris milestone last year and the share buyback program this year. With this net cash flow, we ended the second quarter with a cash balance of NOK 239 million.
Looking at the balance sheet, we ended the quarter with total assets of NOK 685 million, non-current assets of NOK 314 million at the end of Q2, and this included customer relationship with NOK 87.5 million. The customer relationship is the intangible asset identified in the purchase price allocation for the Ipsen transaction. Non-current assets also include goodwill from the Ipsen transaction of NOK 144 million and a tax asset of NOK 49 million. Inventory and receivables were NOK 131.8 million at the end of Q2 compared to NOK 132.6 million at Q1 this year. Flat in spite of increasing revenue. Long-term liabilities of NOK 128 million include the earnout liability related to the Ipsen transaction totaling NOK 109 million at the end of the quarter. Finally, equity at the end of the quarter was NOK 479 million, which is 70% of total assets. This concludes the financial section. Thank you.
Dan, it's back to you.
All right, thank you, Erik. All right, moving to the summary of Q2 results. Obviously extremely pleased, very happy with the teams both in the U.S. and EU and across the entire organization, all the support work. Overall, very solid quarter with 11% top line growth, 9% unit growth, and that despite flex decline and perhaps some foreign exchange headwinds. We had positive EBITDA at NOK 14.8 million, and that was our ninth quarter in a row for positive EBITDA. We continue to build on operating leverages Erik clearly articulated in his presentation. By virtue of the X milestones, XBD expenses were at NOK 22.6 million NOK. I think what's key here is we continue to invest in key growth initiatives that we believe will generate revenue growth and increase operating leverage in the business.
On the flex surveillance market now and in the future, Richard Wolf Photocure joint development program to bring flex back to the surveillance market is a big, big opportunity at a NOK 1.3 billion total addressable market. We look forward to that happening in the course of the next couple of years. It's on track, as I mentioned in my presentation. In the meantime, we have the interim solution that has been already implemented in the U.K. It went off very well. We want to keep the interest high, collect the data, same as in the U.S. with what flex machines are out there. The users that are using them, we want to continue to stay engaged. On the account growth, installs, upgrades in mobile, we grew our active accounts, which is both new, reactivated, and upgrades by 24%. We believe this is a great indicator of our performance.
This is up from 17% growth in Q1 2025 and 11% growth in Q4 2024. You can see the momentum building quarter- over- quarter in terms of increased accounts. Mobile is a key driver in there as well, but these upgrades are also significant. In fact, on an upgrade level, we have now upgraded 60% of the old standard definition. We expect the remainders, which were probably purchased in 2022 to 2021, those will convert over the next couple of years. We will have all high-def equipment in the U.S. at that point. As I mentioned, there is a positive impact when you use the high-grade equipment versus the old standard definition that was two decades old. Remind you also, Karl Storz is running a promo program for the second half of this year, began on July 1st.
Certainly, the reps are equally incentivized, so we expect that to help out on the pipeline, which we're looking at today as we look through the rest of the year and into 2026. The ForTec national mobile rollout continues to gain traction. Like I said, 150 users so far, 70 new accounts. They added on another 13 in the quarter. It continues to build momentum. It's outperforming both our expectations and ForTec. I think, you know, watch this space. It does hit a market that otherwise we would not be able to hit. These are hospitals that either don't have the capital budgets to afford to purchase these high-priced Karl Storz Blue Light systems, or they want to try it first, try before they buy. This is a nice way to get them used to it. ForTec and us are obviously driving utilization at the local level.
This is a really nice partnership, and we appreciate their hard work. In revenue, units were up 8% in quarter two for Europe. We continue to facilitate the image quality upgrades of our nearly 600 target accounts. We believe Olympus Blue Light upgrade will help us strengthen this initiative. As I said, there were 36 installed year-t o- date, and they have a nice pipeline behind it. You can already see the impact in some of the key countries that have adopted the Olympus VISERA 3 , where Olympus has a stronghold. Finally, I'll conclude, we had a very strong presence in the AUA and EAU. Some of it orchestrated by us, but much to our surprise and very much to our delight, we were an active conversation in so many presentations, so many discussions Blue Light Cystoscopy in bladder cancer patient care.
We're really excited about where this is going. Obviously, as Erik mentioned, we have a very strong balance sheet and a nice cash balance of NOK 239 million. I'll close with the final anticipated milestones and corporate objectives. We remain with the financial guidance today at 7%- 11% product revenue growth and positive EBITDA improvement in 2025. We also expect continued operating leverage through the commercial businesses, as Erik articulated in his presentation. We see the possibility for significant growth in milestones this year with Asieris and Saphira. We continue increasing Hexvix and Cysview kit throughput through tower upgrades, new installations, and leveraging of the mobile solution in the U.S. The Olympus launch is going quite well, and we already see the impacts. We're going to continue to advance the partnership with Richard Wolf, obviously on the development of this next generation state-of-the-art 4K high-definition flexible BLC system.
Also, where we can implement this interim solution in countries that Richard Wolf has it available, Europe primarily, especially the U.K.. We want to continue Blue Light Cystoscopy an active conversation in the surveillance market. Lots of work going on with publishing and presenting additional data. As I mentioned, we sort of talked about whether we forced it or someone just talked about it at AUA and EAU. We see that continuing, a lot of publications that have been coming out if you've been following them. This is really exciting. Our U.S. registry continues to be a very key asset for the company, and there's a lot of interest in how people can access it for the information they need in developing their products, etc. We'll continue to support the additional equipment manufacturers coming into the U.S.
I mentioned the systems petition and the reclassification is a key pathway, and we are putting a lot of money, effort, and pressure on that. The FDA is fully aware. It's not an awareness issue. It's a prioritization issue. It's a government entity. We are making every effort we can to pressure them from all sides, 360, to get them to make a move. In the meantime, there have been identified ways potentially to get to market by a couple of the manufacturers. We support their efforts and hopefully one way or the other, there is an additional manufacturer in the U.S. market soon. Finally, on the Asieris progress, again, we can only say what Asieris says, which is everything appears to be on track. Hexvix is approved.
Richard Wolf is working through its approval in China, and hopefully they can get it end of this year into next, early next year so they can launch Hexvix in China. On the Saphira side, they continue to have exchanges with the NMPA looking for a decision maybe late this year, early next year. With that, I want to thank everyone, and I guess we'll open it up to Q&A.
We have a large number of questions here, some are overlapping, and we will then leave it with one question for the sake of good order so we can finish the call by the estimated time frame. The first question is, can Photocure confirm whether it has any knowledge of Richard Wolf's regulatory resignation for System Blue to the Chinese authorities, especially in light of what appears to be two approvals granted on July 11, 2025?
That was surprising to Richard Wolf because both those products were already approved. What it opens up is the opportunity for an interim solution. It's just saying that those camera heads are compatible with their current system. That was not a new approval. It was a recertification, as it turns out. There's no new news there.
Do you have any insights into what is delaying the reclassification of Cysview in the U.S.?
It's a government. I mean, as I mentioned, when it went down this first path with Citizens Petition, there's no statutory requirement. It's not like submitting an NDA for FDA approval and they have so many days to approve it or 510(k) in 90 days. These Citizens Petitions can be identified and acted on by the FDA very quickly, or they can linger. We believe, we know for a fact through our efforts. In fact, our last interaction with the FDA, they asked us before we showed up, please do not remind us again about this reclass. We're fully aware of it. It is on our radar. It's about a prioritization. Sometimes it takes more efforts. Sometimes it takes, we just had a switch in administration. We believe the new administration is a little more open to clearing some of this stuff up.
It called, kind of under their common sense initiatives of things that just don't make sense, let's fix it. We think this is a common sense, just fix it situation. If we can leverage the current administration, Congress, whatever we need to do, we continue to push on it. In the meantime, like I said, there are more ways to skin this cat, and we found some other ways. The holy grail is to have additional manufacturers in the U.S. market so that there's more access. Hospitals that are identified as Olympus Hospital or Richard Wolf Hospital or whatever hospital, that they have the opportunity to Blue Light from whatever manufacturer they prefer. It works very well for us in Europe, and we think it works very well in the U.S. Again, reclass is one way, and that's big and splashy.
Even with an announcement like that, it'll take the FDA time to sort of lay out the cookbook on how to submit their 510(k)s. In the meantime, we are fully aware there's other efforts, and we're very optimistic that those efforts will be successful.
Can you provide some more flavor on the following from the presentation? Business development N OK 7.8 million in the second quarter relates to efforts that can diversify our business.
It definitely can. It can also further enhance the development for Hexvix Cysview. What we're looking at in terms of spending this quarter is expenses related to market research. I think NOK 3 million or NOK 4 million kroner. We have legal fees, which is much related to negotiations and market research for partnerships. We have multiple conversations going with different companies on this. We're really pushing this. It's very important for the future of the company.
We have a long question here regarding statutory requirements for NMPA for a supplementary review. It seems like the timeline for NMPA is around one third in addition to the ordinary review of 200 days. This adds up to 67 days extra, meaning a reply is expected Q3 2025. Is this correct with reference to your statement in the presentation?
I don't know any of that. Again, this is Asieris' product. I cannot make a public comment on Asieris' expectations there. The only thing I know about the NMPA and past processes is that it's, you know, it's on average now around a year and a half to two years for their approvals. This is a drug-device combination. That's as much of a comment as I know personally. If you want specifics, I would suggest the investors go straight to Asieris . They're a public company. We have to respect their privacy on that.
We have questions on ForTec. How big is the contribution from ForTec on total or US revenue? What is the potential? Are ForTec, or is ForTec, considered being purchasing extra scopes?
They are currently over 10% and accelerating. I forgot, I don't know, that was a three-part question. I know one of them was, will they purchase additional scopes? As they reach capacity and they can't service the demand, they have surely, and I said that when we first announced the deal that they would purchase additional scopes. There was a middle question in there, wasn't there?
Yeah, what is the potential for the ForTec partnership?
Yeah, you know, it's a good question. I've said, you know, it's definitely north of 10%. Maybe it gets to 20%. I think it's, you know, we're still analyzing and looking and seeing what it does because, again, it's partly, there's two parts to this. One part is there are hospitals that just can't afford it or don't believe in buying a bunch of capital equipment. They will forever be a mobile solution hospital. There are some hospitals that are trying to buy. What I'm saying here is ForTec, I'll just make up a number. Say ForTec has, you know, got 10 hospitals, each of them are doing 10 units. All right, that's 100 units. The next month, one of those hospitals buys its own equipment. Now those hospitals are nine hospitals doing 90 units.
We got a hospital out there now that bought up the equipment and they're doing 10 units. When I throw out these percentages, part of the analysis is, okay, where did the hospital go? Are they still a ForTec customer or have they become a buyer of the equipment? Either way, it benefits us truly. We want, you know, we want whatever's best for the hospital. Typically, if they're buying as a hospital, it's because they've got so much usage or they believe they have so much usage that it's economically or financially favorable for them to buy it rather than paying a premium for the mobile solution. The math will get a little bit fuzzy on the fringes because things will shift back and forth. Certainly, this could be, you know, 15%, 20% of the business. I don't know.
It's accessing a market that we otherwise would not be in right now. I think that is really key. The 10% of our business right now is a market that these hospitals were not Blue Light, at least in the near term at the current price that it was offered in the market. If we get multiple manufacturers in the market, I believe there'll be economic and technological competition. Everybody will want to have the latest bells and whistles. They're also going to compete on price. That might also drive more hospitals to buy and use less of mobile. It's a lot of moving parts here. Ultimately, what we want is accessibility Blue Light in every hospital in the United States. That's our goal.
Will this quarter be a reminder for the one where Photocure really turned the corner?
I hope so. I mean, I feel good about what you've done. You know, if you follow the story, actually, the first time you come in contact with Photocure, you think, oh, this shouldn't be too hard. It's simple. Single product, you know, sell it directly into hospitals or whatever. As you learn this business, it is very complex. There are so many complexities to it. It's the mobile stuff. It's the surveillance and the rigid. It's three or four different manufacturers. It's so many different pieces. Through the course of the last several years, we've been struck with some various challenges. I'm proud of the team and the way that we quickly respond, the resilience, the speed of action, putting the right plans in place, having the patience and the fortitude to see it through.
I think back to 2023, Karl Storz was supposed to launch the Saphira system literally in 2021, delayed by two years. We went through the entire 2023 with almost no installations because it just kept getting delayed. They weren't selling the old system because they knew that was crap. We went a whole year, lost a whole year's sales there. We also hit in 2020, as many people did, the pandemic. In 2023, they withdraw, I said I meant 2022 on the Saphira system. In 2023, they withdraw flex, which was our fastest growing segment at 30%. We had a pipeline of 35 accounts we were going to fire up. They're high productivity accounts. What do you do? You know what we did? A lot of our effort was in the rigid surveillance market. We had to switch our focus back over to rigid. That takes time.
It takes time to move the ship. Meanwhile, we try to hold on to flex. We form a strategic partnership with Richard Wolf. We're developing the world's only 4K high-def Blue Light flexible system to be launched globally in the largest Cystoscopy market of NOK 1.3 billion TAM . I don't know. Maybe we turned the corner two quarters ago. Just you couldn't see it. Maybe it's going to continue to turn the corner over the next quarter or two. I do feel good about where we're at today. I feel very proud of the team behind this and the way they respond to the challenges.
We have passed the indicated end for this call, but we will take a couple more questions. Turning to OpEx, can we expect the OpEx to stay fairly flat with revenues increasing as Photocure investments in the U.S. and Europe start to pay off?
I think what you should expect is that the personnel cost will remain relatively stable. I don't see any major increases in headcount. However, there are other costs in the P&L, which are project-related. That could be medical projects. That could also be business development projects. Those will vary. At least at the level where we are now, could be higher as well. I can't promise a flat OpEx going forward. I can promise a flat fixed element of the OpEx, but the project spending, we have to take part in. We have to do that.
With ForTec kicking off in the overseas market, is something similar possible in Europe?
Looked into it. It's now, there's nothing obvious. We have piloted a very local distributor in Italy. It didn't quite work the same as well. ForTec is, you know, I mean, the competitor to ForTec is agility in the U.S. They are absolute pros at this. They have different, slightly different segments of the healthcare market. ForTec is a pro. We will continue to look for a similar opportunity in Europe. There's nothing that's obvious or identified at this point. There's nobody who runs these kinds of things.
We have shortly a hard stop here, but we take one more question. That is, if Saphira is approved in China, triggering a substantial milestone payment and potentially significant royalty payments, will Photocure consider dividends?
Erik, you want to answer that one?
I always say that this company is a growth company. We're going to ensure that we have cash required to do the growth and to do the investments needed. I can't say no to a dividend because, I mean, maybe it happens, maybe it doesn't. My priority right now is growth.
That concludes the Q&A session. Back to you, Dan.
All right. Great. Thank you. Thanks to the team for a great quarter. Looking forward to Q3 when we present in November. Until then, have a great rest of the summer. See you soon.