IXICO PLC (LSE:IXI, OTC:PHYOF) CEO, Bram Goorden, talked with Proactive about the company's latest progress in neuroimaging and clinical trial analytics.
The company recently secured a £3.5 million phase 3 clinical trial contract with a major pharmaceutical sponsor focused on Huntington’s disease. Goorden noted, “This is a big one for us,” highlighting the project’s significance both in scale and strategic alignment, as well as the potential for scope extensions.
He said the win strengthens IXICO’s position in the Huntington’s disease space, where the company already serves most programmes and collaborates with the Huntington’s Disease Association in New York. Goorden added, “We like to think that we are sort of the dominant neuroimaging player there.”
While Huntington’s remains a core area, Goorden stressed that IXICO is actively broadening its focus into Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, calling them “very high growth areas” with multiple recent pipeline wins. He noted the company has had a strong quarter since the start of its financial year in October.
Looking ahead, IXICO expects further wins in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and rare CNS diseases. Goorden said the company is “riding the wave” of increased pharma and biotech investment in neurology and aims to leverage its platform to drive future profitability.
Proactive: The company has significant news again today, talking about another contract win — an exciting one. I'll let you share the details with the audience.
Bram Goorden: This is an important one for us. It's a phase three trial, so it's when we get into these clinical development stages where we can really start to hope, together with our clients, our sponsor, that there may be a potential approval for a treatment. It's in Huntington's disease, a highly underserved area of neurodegenerative disease, with a big pharma company.
And last but not least, it's more than £3.5 million, which will be over four years. But as we know with these projects, there's going to be scope extensions, there's going to be changes. And so this is a big one for us.
Proactive: Yeah, and that really solidifies you in the market of Huntington's disease. We're hearing a lot more about it, especially over here in North America, but really around the world. So that puts you as a leader in the research around it.
Bram Goorden: I think so, yeah. We like to think that we are sort of the dominant neuroimaging player there. We know that we're serving most of the programs in that space. We've really developed a reputation there. We're working very heavily also with the Huntington's Disease Association in New York. So yeah, sponsors usually find their way to us.
Having said that, it is still a competitive bid and a competitive space. This one was hard fought, and I'm glad that the sponsor was fully convinced by the capabilities we still bring to the space.
Proactive: That doesn't stop you from going into other areas as well. You've had other contract wins and other therapeutics, which is an important distinction.
Bram Goorden: Yeah, that’s a good one, Steve. You're absolutely right. Over the past months — I started a year ago after the capital raise we did — we've been heavily focusing on Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, which are very high growth areas where we believe we can get a much better footprint.
And that's happening. We've seen that with some pipeline wins in the past year, and we see that with what's now coming down the pipe for this year. But then to have that Huntington's disease win is important, right? We need to keep our eye on the ball. We do consider this our bread and butter. But yes, we definitely expect more in the Alzheimer's space and more in the Parkinson's space.
We did have a win with an Alzheimer's disease company earlier in the year. We've actually had a very good quarter since we started the year on the 1st of October.
Proactive: Yeah. Neurological diseases seem to be continuing to grow. Our population is aging — no surprise there. But it really has opportunities for what you're talking about into 2026. Can you talk to us about the rest of this year and into next year, and the key opportunities you’re looking at?
Bram Goorden: You're absolutely right. It's been a long time coming for the neurodegenerative space and the neurology space. It's a complex one. Neuroimaging in neurology is also a very complicated area to be in. But it's an exciting space now. We see biotechs getting funded. Pharma is now investing deeply beyond oncology, which they may have traditionally focused on.
And so for us, after 20 years of existence, we see that this is a bit of a wave we’re riding. Having said that, we've now equipped our platform to ride this wave and be masters of our own destiny. So for the coming year, expect more wins, especially in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, but also in rare CNS diseases.
We will continue to serve all companies that require analytics in rare diseases such as Huntington’s disease. As mentioned before, that gets us back on the path to profitability, which is very important for our shareholders as well.
Proactive: Absolutely. They say it's an overnight success, 20 years in the making. Bram, there you go. Good to see you again. Congratulations on the contract win — exciting for the team. We look forward to our next conversation.
Bram Goorden: Great. Well, thank you for having me again, Steve. Take care.
Proactive: All right. Good stuff. There's Bram Goorden. He's the CEO of IXICO.