hVIVO (HVO ) (formerly Open Oprhan), a specialist contract research organisation, announced a £13.6m contract with a US biopharmaceutical client, to test its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antiviral candidate using hVIVO's RSV human challenge study model.
The Phase 2a double-blinded human challenge trial will evaluate the efficacy profile of the candidate against RSV. The trial will take place at hVIVO's quarantine facilities in Whitechapel.
The study is expected to commence in Q3/Q4 2023, with revenue being recognised in 2023 and 2024.
Yamin 'Mo' Khan, Chief Executive Officer of hVIVO, commented: "We're delighted to be working with this biopharma client to test their antiviral candidate using our established hVIVO RSV Human Challenge Study Model. We continue to see an increase in the size of our studies as new benefits of challenge study data are continually realised by both new and existing biotech and pharma clients."
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Markets cheered yet another large contract for hVIVO, this time a £13.6m deal with a US-based biopharma company. HVO stock was up 10% on the news this morning.
More and more pharma and biotech companies are trusting hVIVO's model as they learn about the benefits of human challenge trials. Four of the top ten global biopharma companies are now regular clients of hVIVO. Not only is the company's number of clients increasing, but the size of contracts is growing as well.
Human challenge studies can provide great value for biotech and pharma companies as they offer access to fast and cost-effective data that enables easy decisions ahead of larger Phase 2 studies. This gives companies the best possible chance of quickly advancing their candidates through the development pathway.
hVIVO's long string of major contracts signed this year speaks to the rapid momentum the company has generated in only 7 months, with the pace continuing to accelerate. The company's book order nearly tripled to £70m in 1H22. In July and August alone, hVIVO recorded £9m of new revenue and added £4.1m to its cash balance. Today's contract will add antoher £13.6m to hVIVO's order book and generate significant revenues in 2023 and 2024. The remaining £80+ million of orders are also expected to be recognised across 2022, 2023, and 2024, giving investors much to look forward to.
hVIVO's growth is being driven by increasing demand for human challenge services in a rapidly expanding infectious and respiratory disease clinical trials market. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a marked increase in the number of companies looking to test vaccines and antivirals against specific subtypes of viruses that have the potential to be widely spread.
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