Life sciences group Abzena plc (LON:ABZA) said the two acquisitions it made in the final quarter of last year are having a real and positive impact on the order book.
The broader offering following the purchase of Pacific GMP and TCRS has resulted in “significant repeat work”, it said in an update ahead of its annual meeting.
Abzena is a hybrid business. It manufactures certain treatment formulations for clients. It also has technologies that modify and enhance the performance of drugs. Where its changes are included in a drug candidate it might be entitled to receive payments as the treatment develops.
There are 12 of these 'Abzena inside' products in phase I clinical trials.
The most interesting and well advanced of the bunch is GS-5745, which is being developed by Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GILD) and tested on a number of diseases, including cancer.
The US biotech has announced it will carry out further clinical studies of GS-5745.
It has been an eventful year to date for the group, which also launched Denceptor Therapeutics, a joint venture with the Baylor Institute of Immunology Research of Dallas, Texas.
On the manufacturing side of things, it landed a contract with Faron Pharmaceuticals (LON:FARN) to produce Clevegen, a potential treatment for cancer.
"Our increased capabilities and capacity are already resulting in an excellent response from customers,” said chief executive John Burt.
“The number of projects involving teams from across our research, development and manufacturing offerings, for both 'Abzena inside' partners and service customers is growing healthily.
"Our strong current trading is a great endorsement of Abzena's strategy to become a preferred partner for biopharmaceutical services."
Separately, the firm said non-executive director Anker Lundemose will step down from the board at the end of the month.