The renewal of a key contract with German pharma giant Merck Serono capped off a “strong” first half for Physiomics Plc (LON:PYC).
Merck has long been a fan of the AIM company’s Virtual Tumour programme – a piece of software that can predict the effect of different combinations of drugs on cancers.
The £435,000 deal agreed in December was an extension of a long-standing relationship between the two firms.
READ: Physiomics striking up new relationships in world of oncology
They struck a similar deal at the end of 2017, something which was reflected in Physiomics’ first-half results this time around.
It helped income soar to £372,000 (H1 17: £142,000) in the six months ended 31 December, while it also contributed to a near-50% drop in operating losses to £113,000 (H1 17: £220,000).
At the end of the period, the company had £552,000 of cash in the bank, compared with £166,000 at the end of 2017.
As well as the Merck deal, Physiomics bagged other contracts during the first half, including from a new European biotech client, while a £48,000 grant from Innovate UK – the UK government’s innovation agency – also helped boost the performance in the first half.
Bosses are attending some big industry conferences over the next few months which they hope will drum up more interest in its software and lead to new client wins further down the line.
“Building on the momentum generated by existing and new contracts as well as success in attracting grant funding in the calendar year 2018, we are looking forward to what the directors believe will be a strong second half, underpinned by contracts already secured,” read Thursday’s results statement.
Physiomics shares fell 4.3% to 3.35p on Thursday morning.