hVIVO shares rose on Wednesday after the world leader in testing infectious and respiratory disease vaccines and therapeutics announced they had won a fresh contract with an existing client. In addition, hVIVO said they saw trading ahead of market prior expectations as EBITDA margins expand.
hVIVO has signed a £16.8m contract with a top 5 pharmaceutical client to test its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antiviral drug candidate using hVIVO’s RSV Human Challenge Study Model.
RSV impacts around 50 million people globally and is a leading cause of childhood lower respiratory infections.
The contract includes expedited manufacturing of the RSV challenge agent, a confirmatory challenge cohort, and a multiple cohort challenge trial to evaluate dosing and efficacy. Revenue will be recognised across 2023-2025, with most in 2024. hVIVO will immediately commence virus manufacturing to complete in H1 2024.
Subject to successful manufacturing and approvals, the challenge trial will start in H2 2024 at hVIVO’s new London facility.
hVIVO shares were over 7% higher at the time of writing on Wednesday.
“Our RSV (Memphis strain) challenge agent has played a significant role in the development of RSV vaccines and we are delighted that it is continuing to be used as the go-to model for our clients,” said Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan, Chief Executive Officer of hVIVO.
“We have built a world-leading portfolio of challenge agents and are working hard with our clients to add new models all the time. This contract is another example of the end-to-end full service offering that hVIVO has already successfully provided to several clients.”
Strong trading performance
hVIVO also announced trading is ahead of previous expectations, with EBITDA margins exceeding 20% in 2023 due to improved efficiencies and facilities funding benefitting 2023-2024.
The company has clear revenue visibility into 2024, and today’s RSV award demonstrates the calibre of contracts the company is winning.
“We are also delighted with the Company’s strong operational performance in 2023 and now expect to exceed the previous market guidance and look forward to updating the market further in the new year,” Yamin Khan said.
