hVIVO lauds sales pipeline and large contract as revenues jump

Drug development services provider hVIVO achieved its "strongest potential sales pipeline" for several years, executive chairman Trevor Phillips said on Thursday.

Expectations remain unchanged for the full-year, with a higher level of sales projected for the second half and hopes to add to its sales pipeline as only a small number of the current probable contracts would fill next year’s quarantine capacity.

For the six months ended 30 June, the company delivered revenues of £4.9m, up 26% from the same period last year, while the group also signed an £11.9m contract that will start to contribute to revenues from October and extend through 2019.

"We are experiencing a lot of interest from leading pharmaceutical companies for the development of new challenge models in RSV, asthma and COPD and we expect to be able to convert a number of these into contracts that will further enhance our service offerings," said Phillips.

With the help of the aforementioned boost in revenue and a reduction in research and development costs, the AIM-traded company's losses dropped from £9.1m to £5.3m.

The firm’s cash and cash equivalents at 30 June were down from £15.4m to £10.7m.

The period also saw the group’s flu vaccine FLU-v perform strongly in a Phase II trial, with talks now underway to find a partner or even move to sell Imutex, the joint venture with SEEK that is responsible for the development of FLU-v.

"The company's breadth and depth of capabilities and know-how for the design and delivery of human challenge studies provides the basis for a strong outlook for the remainder of the year and beyond. We aim to create a stronger range of services that, alongside our operational efficiencies, will enable hVIVO to be profitable and generate cash from its operations in 2019," said Phillips.

hVIVO’s shares were down 3.12% at 62.00p at 1159 BST.