hVIVO PLC (AIM:HVO) chief executive Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan talked with Proactive about the company’s strategic acquisition of Cryostore, a specialist in temperature-controlled storage solutions for biological and clinical samples. Based in Greenwich, Cryostore enhances hVIVO’s biobank services under its hLAB banner, aligning with hVIVO's goals of expanding lab services and offering a fuller service to clients.
Khan highlighted, “We want to give the biobank service line a bit of a boost. These guys have, well, run 97% customer retention rate, which is huge.” The acquisition, valued at up to £3.2 million, involves £2.7 million in cash and £500,000 in equity, and aims to leverage Cryostore’s established client base and regulatory certifications.
With Cryostore’s 32 freezers and nearly 3000 square feet of storage space, hVIVO plans to integrate its existing biobank facility near Cambridge, enhancing its service offerings to clinical trial clients. The acquisition is also expected to support cross-selling opportunities within hVIVO’s clinical services and human challenge trials.
Proactive: Mo, very good to speak with you again. You've announced yet another acquisition for hVIVO. Could you give us an overview of today's announcement, please?
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: Happy to. So, thanks for having me on again. Yeah, it's been a busy start to 2025. This time we've announced a small but strategic acquisition for us, in the company. We've acquired a company called Cryostore, a specialist in providing temperature-controlled storage solutions for biological and clinical samples. They are actually based down the road from us in Greenwich—just one step away on the DLR. They are a small company but really key for us as we're looking to expand our biobank services under our hLAB banner, and they fit perfectly into that.
Proactive: As you mentioned, you have worked with Cryostore. Why did you decide to bring this in-house?
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: We've worked with them for over 20 years. In fact, last year, just under about 16% of their revenue came from hVIVO. The main reason we bought them under our umbrella is to expand the hLAB services. We already have a biobank, but we don't have the sales pipeline or client base that Cryostore currently has. Bringing them on board will help boost that part of our business. The hLAB testing business has started off really strongly, and we want to give the biobank service line a boost. They have an impressive 97% customer retention rate, which is huge.
Proactive: Does hVIVO have storage capacity, which is why you decided to acquire additional biobank space?
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: Yes, we do. We have a biobank provision near Cambridge at the moment. However, we don't have the client base or retention that Cryostore currently offers. We plan to use Cryostore’s client base to expand and hopefully utilize our biobank space near Cambridge. Our goal is to integrate the two biobanks and offer the entire biobank space to all our clients. That's something already in our plans.
Proactive: How does this bolt-on acquisition benefit your clients, Mo?
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: One of the key benefits is that our clients can now access a much more comprehensive service. We already conduct the typical lab services expected in a clinical trial, and of course, we run human challenge trials. We've added phase one and early phase two capabilities to our portfolio. This acquisition gives us an added service line, allowing us to offer a fuller service to clients. Many clinical sample storage requirements span 2 to 15 years post-study, depending on when the product is authorized. We know the demand is growing, and Cryostore’s existing approvals enable us to enter the market much faster than building these services organically.
Proactive: What revenue is the business doing currently, and how is that set to grow?
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: Cryostore has a strong history of revenue growth. They're projected to generate around £900,000 in revenue for 2024, with EBITDA margins of over 50%. It's a high-margin business, and their 97% customer retention rate is particularly impressive, especially since they rely on word-of-mouth and have no active sales and marketing. As part of our larger offering, we believe we can increase market awareness of Cryostore's services and expand its reach within our broader service portfolio.
Proactive: Mo, as you mentioned, you've hit the ground running in 2025. What should we expect for the next few months?
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: We will continue to be busy. The team has worked incredibly hard to achieve so much already this year. We'll focus on integrating our acquisitions, particularly Cryostore and CRS, into our overall company to build a cohesive portfolio of services. We're also adding a new sales member to our hLAB team to enhance sales and marketing efforts. In the coming months, we'll attend various conferences to highlight our established human challenge offerings and new services from our acquisitions. It's been a great start to 2025, but much more hard work lies ahead.