hVIVO PLC (AIM:HVO) chief executive Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan talked with Proactive about the company’s record-breaking financial performance in 2024, operational milestones and strategic outlook.
Khan reported a 12% rise in revenue to just under £63 million, with an EBITDA margin of 26%, highlighting this as a record margin for the company. He noted that, even excluding a one-off facility fee, the margin remained strong at 23%. The company also ended the year with £44 million in cash.
Khan explained, “This is all been based on a record number of inoculations… we ran nine challenge trials and our largest field study to date.” He emphasized the company’s transformation, with a move to a purpose-built 50-bed human challenge facility in Canary Wharf, improvements in operational efficiency, and a major expansion of lab and outpatient capacity.
Looking ahead, hVIVO is targeting £73 million in revenue for 2025, of which £70 million is already contracted. The company is also launching new challenge models, including Omicron and hMPV, and pursuing its first phase 3 human trial.
Khan also discussed recent acquisitions—CRS in Germany and Cryo-Store in the UK—and confirmed continued dividend payments, with 0.2p per share set for June.
Proactive: Mo, very good to speak with you. And congratulations on your full year 2024 results. Another period of record revenues and EBITDA. Tell us more.
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: Yeah, thank you. Thank you for having me on. 2024 was a transformational year for the company. We increased revenue by around 12% to just under £63 million, which achieved an EBITDA margin of 26%. That included a one-off facility fee, but the underlying EBITDA margin would have still been around 23%. So it's a very healthy margin - record margin for the company. We also saw a 33% increase in the basic adjusted EPS. We generated a good amount of cash, ending with around £44 million in cash at the end of December last year.
Proactive: Will you be upholding your dividend policy? And when should investors expect this?
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: Yes, we intend to pay around £1.4 million in dividend, which equates to around 0.2p per ordinary share. This will be paid on the 11th of June 2025, to shareholders on the register as of the 16th of May 2025.
Proactive: You certainly delivered on your growth strategy to optimize, scale and diversify the business in 2024 and into 2025. Could you give us a quick overview?
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: Absolutely. Those three words—optimize, scale, diversify—describe our strategy well.
For optimization, we moved into the world's first purpose-built human challenge trial facility of this size. It’s tailored to our needs, with features like a two-way call system and pneumatic tube system to increase efficiency and quality. We also automated our volunteer management system and introduced a laboratory information management system (LIMS).
For scale, we now have a 50-bed facility capable of handling CL3 pathogens like Omicron. We doubled lab and outpatient capacity, added new challenge models, and acquired CRS in Germany, bringing 120 beds. We also acquired Cryo-Store Limited for biospecimen storage, which brought in 32 new freezers.
For diversification, we’re launching new challenge models, including Omicron and hMPV. We signed our first letter of intent for a phase 3 human trial, the largest lab contract, and expanded into new therapeutic areas through CRS—such as cardiometabolic and dermatology.
Proactive: Just going back to CRS—how is the integration of CRS Mannheim and Kiel into the wider group going?
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: It's going well. It’s been just over two months, but the team has made a lot of progress. The integration plan is finalized, audits have been completed with no surprises, and the new reporting lines and sales and marketing teams have merged. We've already identified nearly €1 million in savings and see about €1.6 billion in services in the CRS pipeline that could convert into Venn Life Sciences contracts.
Proactive: How about the integration of Cryo-Store? How’s that progressing?
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: That’s much simpler. It's a single site with three employees, and we’ve worked with them for 15–20 years. The integration process is straightforward. We've invested in marketing, added a salesperson, and are selling Cryo-Store’s services under the hLab brand.
Proactive: I'm sorry to see that hVIVO Chair Cathal Friel will not be seeking re-election at this year’s AGM. Tell us more.
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: Yes, that’s sad news. It was Cathal’s vision that brought together two loss-making companies - Venn Life Sciences and hVIVO - to form Open Orphan, which later became hVIVO again. He helped create a long-term sustainable model. Over the last three years, we’ve grown revenue and increased our EBITDA margin. He also took personal risks to ensure the company's survival. I thank him for his efforts. The nominating committee is now working to identify new candidates for the chair role.
Proactive: Some investors may have concerns regarding the biotech funding environment and recent FDA-related changes. How are you addressing these?
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: These are valid concerns. The markets have been in some turmoil, but we are well protected. Our big pharma clients have long-term funding and remain stable. On the biotech side, signing activity slowed in late 2023, but we’ve since signed all but one of the identified opportunities. That last one, ILiAD, has a letter of intent in place. As for vaccine sentiment and the FDA—if vaccine use drops, we expect to see a rise in viral diseases, which also increases demand for antiviral testing. Our human challenge model supports both vaccines and antivirals.
Proactive: Looking ahead Mo, how is your order book and pipeline shaping up for 2025 and beyond?
Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan: We ended last year with an order book of around £67 million. Since then, we’ve signed a few more deals. We aim to reach £73 million in revenue for 2025, and we already have £70 million contracted. We still need to close a few more deals to secure the 2025 pipeline. But with our diversification and upcoming phase 3 challenge trial, we’re in a good place. I remain confident we’ll reach £100 million in revenue by 2025.
Proactive: Mo, I hope you'll keep us updated on any progress with that. Thank you very much for speaking with us today.