hVIVO PLC (AIM:HVO) chief executive Yamin 'Mo' Khan talked with Proactive about a strong start to 2025, including record revenue for 2024 and a €10 million acquisition of two clinical research units in Germany from CRS. Khan highlighted achieving £63 million in revenue for 2024, a 12% increase over 2023, with industry-leading EBITDA margins of 26% and a cash position of £44 million.
The acquisition of CRS’s Mannheim and Kiel units adds 120 beds and expands hVIVO’s clinical trial offerings, diversifying services and customer reach. Khan emphasized the strategic importance of the acquisition, describing CRS as “a good fit” with a history of quality trials and strong client retention. hVIVO plans to leverage synergies between the companies to enhance patient recruitment and expand end-to-end clinical trial services.
Looking ahead, hVIVO expects 2025 revenue to reach £73 million, despite an initial dip in EBITDA margins as the company integrates CRS. Khan also confirmed the £100 million revenue goal by 2028 remains on track.
Proactive: I'm joined by hVIVO PLC Chief Executive Mo Khan. Mo, a lot of very positive and exciting news out this morning. Let's start with your full-year 2024 trading update. Could you give us a quick overview of what sounds to be a record year for the company?
Yamin 'Mo' Khan: Yes. Well, thank you for having me on. It's been an absolutely amazing year for the company across so many fronts. If we focus on the numbers for the time being, we achieved—or we hope to achieve—£63 million in revenue. That's almost a 12% increase from 2023. Also, we're going to hit a whopping 26% in EBITDA margins, which is a record for the company.
I also think it's probably industry-leading in terms of margins. On top of that, we've amassed a cash pile of around £44 million at the end of last year. From a financial point of view, we've achieved—and, in fact, beaten—most of our parameters.
This has also been a very significant year operationally. Not only have we done so well financially, but we also moved to the world's largest human challenge trial facility in Canary Wharf, East London. That's been a huge effort by the team to deliver so much so fast.
We've delivered record numbers on inoculating patients, launched new service lines, recruited over 800 patients for a field trial in six weeks, and completed the world's first Flu B challenge trial. We’ve also developed new challenge agents. All in all, from both an operational and financial point of view, I can only say very high things about the team. They deserve all the credit for this year.
Proactive: And some more big news is the acquisition of two clinical research units from CRS. Tell us more about that.
Mo Khan: Yes, that's the second exciting piece of news. The year has started very strongly. Last week, we announced the signature of the LOI for our largest human challenge trial to date. Now, with our trading update, we're announcing our first acquisition of the year—or since I joined.
We're acquiring two units from a CRO in Germany called CRS for around €10 million, funded entirely by our cash resources. The two units achieved revenue of approximately €20 million in 2024, though they made a loss of just under €2 million.
The first unit is in Mannheim and has around 96 beds. The second is in Kiel with around 26 beds, totaling approximately 120 beds. This acquisition enhances our service offerings and takes us to the next level in early-stage clinical development services.
Proactive: Great to see you delivering on your M&A strategy. Why did you choose CRS?
Mo Khan: For a number of reasons. Over the past few years, we’ve actively reviewed target assets and rejected many. CRS stood out as the best fit for us. The company has a strong history, having operated since 1977 and conducted over 2,000 Phase I and II trials.
They have a reputation for quality. For example, last year, the FDA conducted a routine inspection and found no issues. CRS also has a strong, loyal customer base, with over 50% repeat business, including large pharma clients.
Importantly, CRS offers services we don't currently provide, which diversifies our offerings. They also outsource services that we already specialize in, so combining the two groups will allow us to provide a fuller, in-house service.
Proactive: Could you take us through the synergies?
Mo Khan: There are many synergies. CRS focuses on Phase I trials, which we don't currently offer, but they also do a lot of Phase II and III patient trials. By combining forces, we’ll have five clinical sites with about 200 beds across the group.
We’re also adding a new country—Germany—to our portfolio, along with an expanded patient recruitment database. This acquisition strengthens our ability to offer end-to-end clinical trial services.
It will also boost our consulting service lines, as many of CRS’s clients require consulting. Overall, the integration of CRS provides more services for our clients, increases revenues, and creates a better in-house experience.
Proactive: It looks like you’ve certainly laid the foundations for future growth. How is this expected to impact your full-year 2025 and beyond?
Mo Khan: For 2025, we expect revenue of around £73 million. While we anticipate a small dip in EBITDA margins during the integration of CRS, we still expect to remain cash-generative. By 2026, CRS should be earnings accretive, and we forecast higher growth in both revenue and margins.
Proactive: How about the order book for the combined group?
Mo Khan: Our weighted order book stood at £67 million at the end of last year. This doesn’t include the recently announced large whooping cough challenge trial. We’re starting 2025 in a strong position.
Proactive: In September, you noted a £40 million pipeline of near-term opportunities. How does that look now?
Mo Khan: I’m pleased to report that £15 million of those opportunities have already been signed and added to the order book. The remaining opportunities are still active, and we hope to finalize them in the coming months.
Proactive: So congratulations again on the acquisition, Mo. Any more to come?
Mo Khan: Absolutely. This is just the start of our M&A strategy. We’re looking to add more complementary assets as we optimize, scale, and diversify. Our mid-term goal of achieving £100 million in revenue by 2028 remains on track.
Proactive: I hope you’ll keep us updated. Thank you very much for speaking with us today, Mo.