Irish and British-based human challenge trials operator hVIVO, formerly Open Orphan, has reported revenues of £50.6m for 2022, an increase of 30% from £39m in 2021.
The group expects to report an EBITDA margin of 17%, more than double its 2021 margin of 7.4% and ahead of previous guidance of 13-15%.
hVIVO cited "strong trading" in the back of half of last year and efficiencies gained through conducting multiple human challenge trials concurrently for the improvement.
Earnings were also boosted by a once off postponement and cancellation fees coming to over £1m.
Advanced fees from order book growth and the aforementioned efficiencies strengthened the company's cash position to £28.4m from £15.7m year-on-year.
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The group's order book totalled £76m at the end of December after securing large contracts with biopharma clients, representing an increase of 65% year-on-year (£46m) and six-fold growth since 2020 (£12m)
hVIVO's full-service human challenge trial offering involves the manufacture of bespoke challenge agents to test products against specific infectious disease variants and sub-variants.
There has also been an increase in the value of contracts, driven by client demand for larger volunteer cohorts, as the biopharma market increasingly recognises the value of human challenge data to accelerate drug development timelines and de-risk later stage clinical trial programmes, hVIVO said.
The company board intends to pay a shareholder divided in light of the group's 2022 financial performance, "exceptional" cash generation and "robust" balance sheet, details of which will be announced with the publication of full results.
HVIVO said it is "firmly placed" to build on the growth in the human challenge trial market and further strengthen its position in 2023, having contracted 95% of its forecasted revenue for the year.
The board expressed confidence that hVIVO would "continue to leverage its competitive position amidst favourable market dynamics and maintain its strong operational execution, order book revenue conversion and focus on profit generation into 2023 and beyond."
Yamin 'Mo' Khan, CEO of hVIVO, said: "The record numbers we have been able to announce today is the result of the hard work by everyone at hVIVO over the last 12 months. The goal for hVIVO has always been to establish a long-term sustainable growth model.
"We now have excellent profitable momentum, with full year 2022 EBITDA margin and cash significantly ahead of market expectations, while revenue shows substantial year-on-year growth.
"These results signify our successes of 2022 and also lay the foundations for FY23 and beyond. The record contracted order book not only covers over 95% of the FY23 revenue targets but also gives us visibility well into 2024.
"With the increasing prevalence and severity of infectious and respiratory diseases, there is a vital need for new vaccines and antivirals; as the human challenge partner of choice to the global biopharma industry, hVIVO is well placed to continue to help accelerate the development of these important new medicines."
hVIVO announced this month that it had secured a €5.9m contract with an unnamed global biotechnology company based in the Asia Pacific region to test its respiratory synctial virus vaccine (RSV) candidate.
Open Orphan acquired hVIVO in a reverse takeover in 2019 that valued hVIVO at c. £13m.
