Healthcare company hVIVO, formerly Open Orphan, has reported higher revenues and earnings for 2023 and said it had a robust orderbook for this year.
The company - which tests infectious and respiratory disease products using human challenge clinical trials - said its revenues for the year rose by 16% to £56m from £48.5m.
hVivo said its profit before income tax rose to £11.147m from a pre-tax loss of £365,000 in 2022.
EBITDA for the year to the end of December jumped by 44% to £13m from £9.1m in 2022, while its adjusted basic EPS increased 32% to 1.27 pence per share, up from 0.96 pence the previous year.
It said it had paid a one-off special dividend of £3.1m in 2023.
The company said its new Canary Wharf facility, which is predominately funded by a number of its key clients, is on track to open in the first half of this year and will include a cutting-edge laboratory and 50 quarantine beds, which makes it the world's biggest commercial human challenge unit.
It said this will enable it to further meet the growing demand for its human challenge trials, increasing its revenue capacity and further improve operational efficiencies, ultimately enhancing its profit margins.
"The build is ahead of schedule, with the quarantine unit construction complete and the required Health Service Executive approval received, we intend to commence our first challenge trial in the unit this month," it added.
During the year, the company started the development of challenge agents including Human Metapneumovirus (hMPV) and additional supply of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), while it also completed manufacturing of a Flu B challenge agent and inoculated a record number of volunteers across nine challenge trials.
Dr Yamin "Mo" Khan, chief executive of hVIVO, said the company last year experienced yet another year of growth in the human challenge trial sector.
He said this was driven by increased recognition among Big Pharma and biotech firms of the compelling evidence supporting the efficacy of hVIVO's human challenge trials in expediting the development of novel vaccines and antivirals.
"Our exceptional financial performance, marked by record revenues, margins and profitability, coupled with the significant number of volunteers inoculated, underscores not only the expansion of the market but also our ability and capacity to meet the increasing demand," the CEO said.
"Looking ahead, I am confident that our robust orderbook, revenue visibility, and increased capabilities puts the company is a strong position to deliver our revenue target of £62m for 2024, as well as our medium-term objective of reaching £100m in revenue by 2028," he added.
