Irish research and clinical trial specialist hVivo said today that its chairman Cathal Friel does not intend to seek re-election to its board at its AGM later this year.
Mr Friel co-founded the business in 2017 and has been Chair for the past eight years.
The company was formerly known as Open Orphan.
"Eight years is quite some time to spend as Chair of any Board and I felt it was important to remain with the business until it had successfully diversified its service offering and completed the two strategic acquisitions of CRS Mannheim and Kiel and Cryostore," Mr Friel said.
"Now that these have completed, I feel confident that I can now leave the company in the very safe hands of Mo Khan, Stephen Pinkerton, the non-executive board members, as well as Andrew Catchpole, Adam French, and the many more essential team members which make hVIVO what it is today," he stated.
Mr Friel said he oversaw the acquisition and integration of two loss-making businesses in 2019 (Venn Life Sciences plc and hVIVO plc), transforming them into a strong, profitable, and cash-generative company.
"Since acquiring hVIVO and Venn, group revenue has grown by 181% and group EBITDA has grown from a loss of £6.7m to a profit of £16.4m - a testament to the exceptional team in London and Dublin whose efforts have established hVIVO as the world leader in human challenge trials," he added.
Mr Friel said a defining moment in his tenure as Chair was initiating talks and successfully contracting and executing the world's first Covid-19 human challenge trial with the UK Government in the middle of the pandemic.
This generated significant global interest in both human challenge trials and also gave hVIVO brand recognition in many parts of the world, which was pivotal in its evolution, he added.
Meanwhile, the company today reported higher revenues and EBITDA for the year to the end of December.
Revenues for the year rose by 11.9% to £62.7m, up from £56 in 2023, while EBITDA was up 25.9% to £16.4m from £13m the previous year.
Basic adjusted earnings per share jumped by 33.3% to 1.69 pence from 1.27 pence in 2023.
A key highlight for the company last year was the move to the new site in Canary Wharf in London, which has increased its revenue cap, is driving efficiencies across the company, and enabled the diversification of its services to include standalone lab, field trial and participant recruitment services.
During the year, the company said that a record number of participants were inoculated across nine challenge trials and seven challenge agents.
It also saw an "outstanding" delivery of the largest field trial to date with 817 participants recruited in just 43 days, following the launch of a clinical site services offering.
The company signed a £6.3m Human Rhinovirus (HRV - common cold virus) human challenge trial contract with a biotech client as well as a £2.5m Omicron characterisation study contract with a mid-sized pharma client during the year.
It also signed a £11.5m Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) HCT contact with an existing top-tier global pharma client as well as a Master Services Agreement with a mid-sized pharma client for HCT services.
Dr Yamin 'Mo' Khan, chief executive of hVIVO, said that 2024 demonstrated further evidence of the strength of the company's long-term sustainable growth model, with record revenue and EBITDA coupled with strong cash generation.
He said that an increasing number of global biopharma companies have expressed their interest in its services, with additional models in various new indications underlining the value that HCTs can offer to the development of innovative new therapies.
"To meet this demand, we have built a world class organisation in personnel and infrastructure, with our new cutting-edge facility in Canary Wharf, which was largely funded by our clients, enabling the execution of larger more complex trials," the CEO said.
"The facility has also opened the door to new revenue streams such as laboratory, participant recruitment, and clinical site services," he said.
"We look forward to delivering further progress in 2025 as we integrate our new revenue streams and build towards our £100m revenue target in 2028," he added.
