Earnings rise 44pc at pharmaceutical services firm Hvivo

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased to £13m (€15.2m) from £9m (€10.5m) a year earlier.

The Dublin and London-listed organisation also recorded a rise in revenues last year. Revenue was up 16pc across the year to £56m, while the group had cash of £37m at the end of 2023, up from £28.4m.

Hvivo is set to pay a dividend of £1.4m in May as it introduces an annual dividend policy for shareholders.

The group signed multiple standalone and full-service end-to-end human challenge contracts in 2023, including the first signed with an Asian Pacific client in a decade.

Hvivo also began developing challenge agents, including Human Metapneumovirus (hMPV) and additional supply of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). It also completed the manufacturing of Flu B challenge agent.

A record number of volunteers were inoculated across nine challenge trials, Hvivo reported.

The group will soon move to a new London facility. The new facility will be located in Canary Wharf, with the expansion largely funded by Hvivo clients looking to accelerate their studies.

The specialised facility will support the company in conducting more challenge trials concurrently, Hvivo said.

It will contain quarantine bedrooms, advanced laboratories, an outpatient unit and corporate offices across two floors. It will begin its first quarantine this month.

The company also pointed to Pfizer’s Abrysvo, which became one of the first RSV vaccines to receive FDA approval last May following a study conducted with Hvivo.

At least two of the group’s other biotech clients have also received FDA Fast Track and/or Breakthrough Designation, Hvivo reported.

The manufacturing of the hMPV virus is on track to complete this year but following the cancellation of the characterisation trial, Hvivo confirmed it received a cancellation fee. It now plans to market the agent for future challenge trials.

The company expects revenues of around £62m this year, with 90pc of 2024 revenue guidance already contracted.

Hvivo also introduced a new medium-term target of growing group revenue to £100m by 2028.

“In 2023, we experienced yet another year of growth in the human challenge trial sector, 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,” Hvivo chief executive officer Dr Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan.

"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,” he added.