The AIM-listed clinical development specialist completes its transformation with a new deal and a rebrand consolidating four service lines under one identity.
hVIVO PLC (AIM:HVO) has signed a contract to run an influenza human challenge trial for Traws Pharma on the same day it unveiled a new brand identity, marking the completion of its transformation into a fully integrated drug development partner.
The clinical trial agreement with NASDAQ-listed Traws will see hVIVO test tivoxavir marboxil (TXM), an investigational oral antiviral designed to be administered as a single dose for the treatment of seasonal influenza and bird flu.
TXM works by inhibiting cap-dependent endonuclease, an enzyme influenza viruses rely on to replicate, and is being developed by Traws as a prophylactic candidate.
The Phase IIa, randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial will take place at hVIVO's quarantine facilities in Canary Wharf, London, and is expected to start in the first half of 2026, with the majority of revenue recognised this year.
Around 150 healthy adult participants will be recruited through FluCamp, hVIVO's dedicated recruitment arm, and all laboratory work will be conducted in-house at the company's specialist virology lab, also in Canary Wharf.
Influenza infects an estimated one billion people each year, causes three to five million severe cases and is linked to between 290,000 and 650,000 deaths annually.
hVIVO has inoculated more than 5,000 healthy participants across 2,477 challenge trials covering influenza, RSV and other viral infections.
Chief executive Yamin 'Mo' Khan said the challenge trial model would deliver fast, controlled efficacy data that would not be achievable through traditional field studies, reducing development risk and improving capital efficiency for Traws.
Iain Dukes, chief executive of Traws, said the agreement represented an important step forward as the company sought to generate high-quality efficacy data efficiently and accelerate progress towards its next value-inflexion point.
The contract announcement coincided with the launch of hVIVO's new brand identity, which consolidates its operating companies, including recently acquired Venn Life Sciences, CRS and Cryostore, under a single hVIVO name.
The group now operates through four integrated service lines: consulting, clinical trials, human challenge trials and laboratories.
The rebrand completes the company's transition from a specialist services provider into a platform supporting clients from preclinical strategy through to phase II and selected phase III programmes.
CEO Khan said the unified brand reinforced the strength of the integrated model, the group's proprietary infrastructure and its deep scientific expertise, and its ability to help pharmaceutical and biotech companies bring medicines to patients faster.
The Traws contract illustrates the logic of that model, with recruitment, laboratory analysis and trial execution all conducted within hVIVO's own infrastructure rather than distributed across multiple external providers.