HVivo jumps on contract win, guidance upgrade

Shares in AIM-listed HVivo jumped on Wednesday morning after the clinical trials and laboratory services group won a new £17m contract and announced it was trading ahead of guidance.

The £16.8m full-service contract is with an unnamed "top five global pharma client" to test its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antiviral drug candidate using hVIVO's RSV Human Challenge Study Model, the company said.

Revenue from the contract will be recognised across 2023, 2024 and 2025, with the RSV human challenge trial expected to kick off in the second half of next year.

"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," said chief executive Yamin Khan.

Meanwhile, trading has been strong across the company with revenues "slightly ahead" of previous market expectations, with EBITDA margins now above 20% for 2023 financial year. At the half-year stage, the company said it was targeting EBITDA margins of around 19%, up from 17.9% in 2022.

"Consequently, the group now expects EBITDA to be ahead of previous market expectations. With the addition of today's contract, the company has clear revenue visibility into 2024," HVivo said.

The stock was up 7.5% at 21.5p by 0849 GMT.