346: Cathal Friel of Open Orphan discusses their 242% revenue growth in H1 & £5.7m New Contract Win

The Vox Markets Podcast

Cathal Friel, Executive Chairman of Open Orphan #ORPH discusses their 242% revenue growth in H1 & £5.7m New Contract Win

Profitable Financial Performance in H1 2021:

- Continuing from a profitable Q4 2020, the Company has moved the business to a firmly profitable position with losses consigned to the past

- 242% reported revenue growth in H1 2021 (£21.9m) versus H1 2020 (£6.4m). Other income grew to £1.2m in H1 2021 from £0.7m in H1 2020

- EBITDA profit of £2.1m (2020: EBITDA loss of £4.1m)

- Revenue has more than tripled reflecting six active challenge studies in H1 2021 vs two active challenge studies in H1 2020 and a solid performance in Early Clinical / Biometry Services

- In H1 2021, non-COVID-19 related work accounted for 75% of revenues

- Gross margin has grown from 6% to 28% of revenue, reflecting that the Company is driving substantial operating leverage through cross selling, restructuring, functional integration and operational productivity

- Cash and cash equivalents were £14.9m at 30 June 2021, primarily reflecting the operating cashflow cycle of the business with new contract prepayments expected in H2 2021

- The Company has executed a share capital re-organisation as an important enabler to progress the monetisation of non-core assets via distribution of dividend in specie. In June, it completed the first distribution in specie back to the shareholders worth £26.2m at 16 September 2021, in relation to the demerging of certain non-core assets into Poolbeg Pharma Limited ("Poolbeg Pharma")

About Open Orphan
Open Orphan plc (London and Euronext: ORPH) is a rapidly growing pharmaceutical service/contract research company that is a world leader in testing vaccines and antivirals using human challenge clinical trials. The company provides services to Big Pharma, biotech and government/public health organisations.

Open Orphan runs challenge studies in London from both its 19-bedroom Whitechapel quarantine clinic, opened in February 2021, and its 24-bedroom QMB clinic with its highly specialised on-site virology and immunology laboratory. Open Orphan has a leading portfolio of human challenge study models for infectious and respiratory diseases and is developing a number of other models including the world's first COVID-19 human challenge study model as part of the Human Challenge Programme.