Irish-listed pharma company Hvivo hails record year with 30pc revenue growth

The Dublin and London-listed organisation is set to pay a one-off special dividend of £3m (€3.4m) in June following “strong cash generation” in 2022.

Revenues rose by 30pc across the year to £50.7m, while the group’s cash position stood at £28.4m at the end of 2022, up from £15.7m in 2021.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased to £9.1m from £2.9m in 2021.

An improvement in Ebitda margins was attributed to running of multiple challenge trials simultaneously, as well as a flexible booking model and a re-vamped platform for its FluCamp volunteer screening programme.

The group also completed seven challenge studies in 2022, inoculating 413 volunteers across the year. This reflected an increase of 32pc on the prior year.

Hvivo increased its portfolio of human challenge models with the launch of models focused on malaria and Omicron and also expanded its existing facilities in London and Manchester to double screening capacity.

New contracts with large clients contributed to a 65pc growth in the size of Hvivo’s order book as it rose to £76m by the end of last year.

The company expects revenues of around £55m this year, despite cancellation of one awarded contract so far this year.

“2022 marked a transformative year for Hvivo, as we achieved record financial and operational performance, providing strong validation of our sustainable growth model,” chief executive Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan said.

“The group reaffirmed its position as the world leader in the testing of vaccines and therapeutics using human challenge studies,” added chairman Cathal Friel.

Mr Friel is the founder of Raglan Capital, which specialises in creating pharmaceutical firms that it takes public.