Oxford Biomedica confident as it moves away from vaccine era

Cell and gene therapy contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Oxford Biomedica reported stability in its core business on Monday, with a small increase in full-year core revenue for 2023, despite a 36% decrease in total revenue to £89.5m.

The London-listed firm said that was primarily due to the non-recurrence of vaccine manufacturing revenue.

Its operating EBITDA loss came in at £52.8m, reflecting a rebased business with a streamlined cost base.

The operating loss of £184.2m meanwhile included a £99.3m impairment charge to the US business due to the cessation of revenues from Homology.

Despite those challenges, Oxford Biomedica said it maintained a robust balance sheet, with cash totaling £103.7m at year-end, enabling the pursuit of strategic objectives.

Commercial key performance indicators underpinned the board’s confidence in future growth, with contracted client orders reaching £131m in 2023 - a notable increase from £85m in the prior year.

Additionally, its revenue backlog stood at £104m as of 31 March.

Looking ahead, Oxford Biomedica reiterated its near-term and medium-term financial guidance, including expectations of total group revenues ranging between £126m and £134m for 2024, with a three-year revenue compound annual growth rate exceeding 35% for 2023 to 2026.

The group said it anticipated achieving broadly breakeven EBITDA in 2024, excluding the impact of the acquisition of ABL Europe, and aimed for operating EBITDA margins in excess of 20% by the end of 2026, with profitability on an EBITDA level projected for 2025.

“2023 was a year of transformation for Oxford Biomedica. We are building our position as a global pure-play cell and gene therapy CDMO and through our 'One OXB' strategy are unifying our operations in the UK, US and the EU, including our newly-acquired sites in France,” said chief executive officer Dr Frank Mathias.

“I am delighted with the positive outcomes of our strategy, which have already resulted in a substantial increase in contracted client orders and our business development pipeline.

“Despite challenging market conditions, we continue to see strong demand for our CDMO services, further solidifying our position as a world-leading global CDMO in the rapidly expanding cell and gene therapy market.”

Dr Mathias said the firm’s focus in 2024 remained on growing its global portfolio of clients and projects across all stages of clinical development, whilst completing the integration of its sites.

“This integration will allow us to better align to the demands of performing as a pure-play CDMO.

“With a highly experienced corporate executive team and a focus on delivering high-quality CDMO services to our clients, our realigned business is well-positioned to help our clients deliver their transformative treatments to patients and drive long-term sustainable growth for the group.”

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.