TIDMORPH
RNS Number : 5112A
Open Orphan PLC
30 September 2020
30 September 2020
Open Orphan Plc
("Open Orphan" or the "Company")
Interim Results for 6 months ended 30 June 2020
Open Orphan Plc, a rapidly growing specialist CRO pharmaceutical
services company which is the world leader in the testing of
vaccines and antivirals using human challenge clinical studies is
pleased to announce its interim results for the six months ended 30
June 2020. The interim results include the first six months of
hVIVO group ("hVIVO") following its acquisition by Open Orphan Plc
on the 17 January 2020.
Operational Highlights:
-- Completed the acquisition of hVIVO plc for an aggregate
consideration of approximately GBPGBP13 million in equity on 17
January 2020
-- Implemented a major restructuring and integration of our operations to drive efficiency and competitiveness which is now substantially completed
-- Successfully secured a number of RSV human challenge studies in the period including:
- GBP3.4m contract with a major European biotech company, with
anticipated GBP7m follow-on study
- GBP3.7m contract with a US biotechnology company
-- Driving growth of Dutch early clinical development services
while refocussing French operations towards biometry services
-- Large contract signed with a global leader in vaccine development
-- Launch of COVID-19 Antibody testing partnership with Quotient Ltd
-- Appointment of Leo Toole as Group Chief Financial Officer
enhancing the executive management team
Financial Highlights:
-- Cash and cash equivalents at half year end of GBP GBP14.7m following two successful placings:
- Executed a fundraise on 31 January 2020 raising GBP GBP5.3
million at 6.1p per share (before expenses)
- Executed a fundraise on 22 May 2020 raising GBP GBP12.6
million at 11p per share (before expenses)
-- Reported Interim Results
o Revenue of GBP GBP7.1 m for H1 2020 - continued focus on
delivering larger contracts
o EBITDA loss of GBP GBP4.1m for H1 2020
o Operating Loss of GBP GBP5.0m for H1 2020
-- Pro-forma Interim Results
o Revenue of GBP GBP7.4m (H1 2019 Revenue of GBP GBP11.6m)
o EBITDA Loss of GBP GBP4.7m (H1 2019 EBITDA loss of GBP
GBP4.7m)
o Operating Loss of GBP GBP5.6m (H1 2019 Operating Loss of GBP
GBP6.3m)
-- Post completion of Merger, reduction in overheads on target
to deliver annualized cost efficiencies of GBP GBP10.1m by end of
2020
Post Period End:
-- Acquired the CHIMagents team in July, reinforcing hVIVO's
position as the world leading services company in the testing of
vaccines and antivirals through human challenge study clinical
trials.
-- Integrated hVIVO's unparalleled database of infectious
diseases progression data into the Open Orphan data platform -
expecting potential commercialisation in Q4, with some of the
world's largest wearable companies for this disease progression
data.
-- Progressing as planned to monetise two of our non-core
assets, the 49% stake in Imutex and the 62.6% stake in PrEP.
-- The Company continues to provide testing to large commercial
employers in the UK and Ireland as part of a combined COVID-19
antibody and COVID-19 PCR (swab) testing offering.
-- Contracts signed post period end include:
- Laboratory services contracts signed with a number of parties
- a key strategic growth area for Open Orphan taking advantage of
our laboratory expertise.
- Contract signed with Codagenix Inc. for a first-in-human Phase
I COVID-19 vaccine study, demonstrating that hVIVO's quarantine
facility is uniquely suited to conducting Phase I studies for
infectious disease vaccines such as this.
- Further RSV human challenge study contract for GBP4m signed
with a Top 3 global pharma company with hVIVO acting as sponsor for
this study.
- First-in-human clinical pharmacology trial signed with Carna BioSciences.
- Contract signed with a major European pharmaceutical company
for d ata management, statistics and medical writing to support a
750 subject oncology study.
- Contract signed for a further GBP4.3m human challenge study
with a top 10 global vaccine company.
Outlook:
-- The Group has a strong pipeline of contracted work and new
projects at an advanced stage of negotiation and is targeting
growth with strong operating cash flow in the second half of 2020
and is on target to be operationally profitable in Q4.
-- As of September 2020, we are close to having the hVIVO
quarantine clinic block booked with conventional challenge studies
until December 2021. Quarantine clinic block expected to shortly be
booked out for the next 18 months to two years with conventional
challenge study contracts.
-- Further to its announcements of 9 March 2020 and 22 May 2020
, the Company is well progressed in developing the world's first
Coronavirus human challenge study model to test a range of COVID-19
vaccines, complementing existing human challenge study models. We
are in advanced discussions and negotiations with a range of
potential customers, including the UK Government to test COVID-19
vaccines.
Cathal Friel, Executive Chairman of Open Orphan, said:
"Since we acquired hVIVO in January 2020, we have achieved what
we set out to do. We have created a leaner more efficient
businesses, removed excess costs and we are now a truly unique
clinical research organisation (CRO) that is the world leader in
the testing of vaccines and antivirals through the use of human
challenge clinical trials. We have secured larger, more profitable
contracts with both large pharma and the leading vaccine developers
globally. We have delivered upon our aim of improving revenue
streams through the delivery of several new revenue lines including
the provision of laboratory services to third parties. We have
reinvigorated both the Venn Life Sciences business and the hVIVO
business during the first half of 2020 and have created a strong
foundation for future growth.
Looking ahead, I am extremely excited by the potential for this
business, we have entered a decade of significant spending on
vaccines and antivirals by both governments and pharma companies
around the world. The Open Orphan Group including hVIVO and Venn
Life Sciences is ideally positioned to capitalise on this increase
in vaccine development expenditure. Earlier this year we set
ourselves the target of being profitable in the second half of 2020
and I am delighted to confirm that, despite profitability taking a
few months longer than expected, we are on target to be
operationally profitable in Q4 2020.
None of the above would have been possible without the
exceptional effort, dedication and professionalism shown by all
hVIVO, Venn and Open Orphan team members. They have worked
diligently through the past 6 months, despite the added difficulty
of the pandemic, to ensure that we have delivered an excellent
performance. The teams are really well positioned to thrive as the
world leaders in the testing of vaccines and antivirals for the
decade ahead."
Conference call for sell-side analysts and investors
The Company will hold a conference call for sell-side analysts
and investors at 10:30 today.
Details for the conference call can be found at:
https://www.speakservecloud.com/register-for-call/254ba4b5-e780-48fb-9142-c5762f4ef8ef
A corporate presentation is available to shareholders on the
Group's website at:
https://www.openorphan.com/investors/reports-and-presentations/year/2020
Enquiries:
Open Orphan Plc Tel: +353 (0)1 644 0007
Cathal Friel, Executive Chairman
Arden Partners (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) Tel: +44
(0)20 7614 5900
John Llewellyn-Lloyd / Benjamin Cryer / Dan Gee-Summons
finnCap plc (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 7220 500
Geoff Nash / James Thompson/ Richard Chambers
Davy (Euronext Growth Adviser and Joint Broker) Tel: +353 (0)1
679 6363
Anthony Farrell (Corporate Finance)
Camarco (Financial PR) Tel: +44 (0)20 3757 4980
Tom Huddart / Hugo Liddy
Notes to Editors -- Open Orphan:
Open Orphan is a rapidly growing niche CRO pharmaceutical
services company which is a world leader in the testing of vaccines
and antivirals through the use of human challenge clinical trials.
Conducted from Europe's only 24-bedroom quarantine clinic with
onsite virology providing individually isolated rooms and connected
to our specialist laboratory facility. hVIVO's challenge studies
require healthy volunteers to take part, volunteers are recruited
through FluCamp, learn more at www.FluCamp.com. The hVIVO facility
offers highly specialised virology and immunology laboratory
services to support pre-clinical and clinical respiratory drug,
antiviral, and vaccine discovery and development. Reliable
laboratory analysis underpinned by scientific expertise is
essential when processing and analysing clinical samples. Robust
quality processes support our team of scientists in the delivery of
submission ready data.
The Company has a leading portfolio of 8 viral challenge study
models which are: 2 FLU, 2 RSV, 1 HRV, 1 Asthma, 1 cough and 1 COPD
viral challenge models. As announced in early March, Open Orphan is
rapidly advancing a number of Coronavirus challenge study models
and expects to be helping many COVID-19 vaccine development
companies to test their vaccines. No other company in the world has
such a portfolio, with only two competitors globally having 1
challenge study model each. hVIVO also works with companies in the
UK and Ireland to provide COVID-19 testing to staff to protect
staff and customers from a workplace COVID-19 outbreak through its
COVID Clear offering.
Open Orphan comprises of two commercial specialist CRO services
businesses, hVIVO and Venn Life Sciences and is also building out a
valuable data platform business. hVIVO has built up one of the
world's largest databases of infectious disease progression data
and we are populating our Open Orphan Health Data platform with
this historical hVIVO data. In our clinical trials going forward,
we are also planning to collect data on volunteer's via wearables
during clinical trials. Therefore, Open Orphan's data, which may
yield valuable digital biomarkers, could be one of the more
sought-after datasets by many of the large wearables /smart watch
wearables providers around the world. In June 2019, Open Orphan
acquired AIM-listed Venn Life Sciences Holdings plc in a reverse
take-over and in January 2020 it completed the merger with hVIVO
plc in January 2020. Venn is an integrated drug development
consultancy firm which offers CMC (chemistry, manufacturing and
controls), preclinical, Phase I & II clinical trials design and
execution. The merger with hVIVO created a European full pharma
services company broadening the Company's customer base and with
complementary specialist CRO services, widened the range of the
Company's service offerings.
Executive Chairman's Statement
Dear Shareholder,
As Executive Chairman, I am very happy to report the first set
of combined results since Open Orphan plc's (formerly Venn Life
Sciences Holdings plc) acquisition of hVIVO plc (now hVIVO Limited)
in January 2020.
Summary
The 6 months to the end June 2020 have been a period of
significant change initially focussed on progressing our strategy
to sign contracts for our world leading human challenge studies
clinical trials which are used to test vaccines and anti-virals. We
are also signing new contracts for biometry services from our Paris
office and early clinical development services from our Breda,
Netherlands office while at the same time developing further new
revenue streams such as laboratory services to complement our
existing London business. This has all been done while at the same
time we implemented a major restructuring and integration of our
operations to drive efficiency and competitiveness which is now
substantially completed.
Also, in this period, the Company addressed the rapidly evolving
COVID-19 pandemic event by enabling a safe and efficient working
environment for our staff at home and in our clinic and laboratory
facilities. We have worked proactively with our clients to manage
project timetables to minimize the impact of Covid-19 on our
revenues streams while continuing to build new relationships to
expand our confirmed project pipeline well into 2021 and
beyond.
Other highlights include the completion of a placing of GBP12.6m
(before expenses) at 11p per share in May 2020 allowing us to
invest to accelerate the development of a world-first coronavirus
challenge study model to test COVID-19 vaccines and antivirals.
This was all done while also expanding our laboratory service
offerings to offer enhanced external laboratory services and to
develop testing services to support the nascent testing environment
for Covid-19.
Interim Results
Reported results for Open Orphan plc are summarized below and
are covered by the schedules and notes from pages 6 to 14 of these
Interim Financial Statements (and in particular reflect reverse
merger accounting treatment under IFRS 3 and IFRS 10 of the
combination of Venn Life Sciences Holdings plc and Open Orphan DAC
as of 28 June 2019). We also share for reference the results for
hVIVO plc (now hVIVO Limited), Open Orphan plc (formerly Venn Life
Sciences Holdings plc) and Open Orphan DAC on a stand-alone
basis.
Open Orphan hVIVO plc Open Orphan Open Orphan Open Orphan
plc (Proforma plc DAC plc
(As reported) results on (formerly (proforma (proforma
standalone Venn Life results results on
basis) Sciences on a stand-alone a combined
Holdings basis) basis and
plc -proforma including
results the impact
on a stand-alone of the 28
basis) June 2019
and 17 January
2020 combinations)
Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited
6 months 6 months 6 months 6 months 6 months 6 months 6 months 6 months 6 months 6 months
ended ended ended ended ended ended ended ended ended ended
30 June 30 June 30 June 30 June 30 June 30 June 30 June 30 June 30 June 30 June
2020 2019 2020 2019 2020 2019 2020 2019 2020 2019
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
-------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Revenue
(incl.
Other
income) 7,078 - 3,379 6,409 4,062 5,179 - - 7,441 11,588
Operating
(Loss) (5,005) (156) (3,067) (4,224) (2,128) (1,965) (447) (159) (5,642) (6,348)
EBITDA before
exceptional
items (4,145) (156) (2,478) (3,192) (1,811) (1,340) (445) (159) (4,734) (4,691)
Loss for the
period (6,490) (1,070) (2,934) (3,833) (2,408) (1,809) (458) (1,091) (7,136) (6,733)
As at As at
30 June 30 June
2020 2019
EUR'000 EUR'000
-------------- ---------- ----------
Non-current
assets 17,721 5,250
Current
assets
(excl. cash) 3,602 5,714
Cash 14,651 4,540
-------------- ---------- ----------
Total Assets 35,974 15,504
-------------- ---------- ----------
Equity
attributable
to owners 26,994 7,576
Non-current
liabilities 2,271 3,304
Current
liabilities 6,709 4,624
-------------- ---------- ----------
Total equity
and
liabilities 35,974 15,504
-------------- ---------- ----------
Governance
The Board continues to recognise the importance of the high
standards of corporate governance and considers that the Group's
success is enhanced by the imposition of a strong corporate
governance framework. I am grateful for the contributions of the
new Board formed after the acquisition in January 2020 and want to
acknowledge the important service of Trevor Philips during his
tenure on the Boards of hVIVO plc (now hVIVO Limited) and Open
Orphan plc until he stepped down in May 2020.
Outlook
Our business outlook has never been stronger. Demand and
interest to complete Challenge studies in our 24-bed quarantine
facilities in the UK is translating into a steady flow of signed
new contracts and new customer engagement. As a result of the
fundraise at the end of May, Open Orphan now has a large, healthy
cash balance and, as such, is very well capitalised and we are
ideally placed to be providing such services to governments and
pharma companies around the world who seek to address the current
pandemic and mitigate the risk of future such events. We are
progressing a number of encouraging avenues to rapidly develop a
human challenge model specific to SARS CoV-2 to fast track the
identification of efficacious vaccines and treatments for
Covid-19.
Our early clinical development business based out of Breda in
the Netherlands is showing strong year on year growth while our
biometry services based out of our Paris office, now focussing on
data management, biostatistics, medical writing and randomisation,
are contributing strongly to generate synergies for our viral
challenge studies and expand their pipelines.
Across the second half of 2020, we will see the impact of the
major efforts undertaken across the Group to divest from
underperforming businesses, reduce overheads, deliver merger
integration savings and right-size the management team including
combining senior roles in both Venn and hVIVO leading to
operational profitability in Q4. Our renewed focus on reducing
hierarchy has increased the speed of decision making while
empowering our teams to deliver our ambitious goals.
In addition, data is an important upstream area of development
for the Group where we believe there will be an important
convergence of hVIVO's global infectious disease progression data
with the digitization of other vital signs and biomarkers available
through our challenge studies, all with the goal of creating a
ground-breaking Open Orphan Health Data platform that can be
monetized with major pharma players.
I am very encouraged for the remainder of 2020 and our prospects
in 2021. We have a world leading team, focused on ground-breaking
work which will create sustainable value for all our
stakeholders.
Cathal Friel
Executive Chairman
30 September 2020
Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
For the six months ended 30 June 2020
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
6 months ended 6 months
ended Year Ended
30 June 30 June 31 December
2020 2019 2019
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
--------------------------------------------- -------- ----------------------- ---------- ------------
Continuing operations
Revenue and other income 7,078 - 3,543
Direct Project and Administrative costs (12,083) (156) (7,951)
Operating (loss) (5,005) (156) (4,408)
----------------------- ---------- ------------
Depreciation and amortisation (860) - (627)
EBITDA before exceptional items (4,145) (156) (3,781)
Finance Income/(Expense) (200) (218) (350)
Share Options/Warrants Charge (176) - (106)
Loss on sale/impairment of Investments - - (231)
Transaction costs re acquisition (1,335) (696) (711)
Share of loss of Associate and JV (38) - -
Loss before income tax (6,754) (1,070) (5,806)
Income tax credit 264 - 67
--------------------------------------------- -------- ----------------------- ---------- ------------
Loss for the period (6,490) (1,070) (5,739)
Loss attributable
Owners of the parent (6,452) (1,070) (5,739)
Non-controlling interest (38) - -
Loss for the period (6,490) (1,070) (5,739)
Currency translation differences 562 1,290 1,123
Total comprehensive loss for the period (5,928) 220 (4,616)
---------------------------------------------- ------- ----------------------- ---------- ------------
Earnings per share from continuing operations attributable to the owners of
the parent during
the period
Basic and diluted (loss) per ordinary share Note GBP Pence GBP Pence GBP Pence
From continuing operations 3 (1.46) (1.44) (3.48)
From (loss) for the year (1.46) (1.44) (3.48)
Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
As at 30 June 2020
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
As at As at As at
30 June 30 June 31 December
2020 2019 2019
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
---------------------------------- ---------------------------- ---------- ------------
Assets
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment 591 238 190
Intangible assets 5,832 3,365 2,875
Right-of-use leased assets 3,873 1,619 1,311
Investments 7,145 28 -
Total non-current assets 17,441 5,250 4,376
----------------------------------- ---------------------------- ---------- ------------
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 2,612 5,076 3,615
Inventories 982 - -
Income tax recoverable 8 9 12
Assets held for sale - 629 -
Cash and cash equivalents 14,651 4,540 1,037
----------------------------------- ---------------------------- ---------- ------------
Total current assets 18,253 10,254 4,664
----------------------------------- ---------------------------- ---------- ------------
Total assets 35,694 15,504 9,040
----------------------------------- ---------------------------- ---------- ------------
Equity attributable to owners
Share capital 728 316 317
Share premium account 44,420 15,200 15,215
Group re-organisation reserve (6,856) (6,856) (6,856)
Share Option and Warrant Reserve 429 159 253
Foreign currency reserves 1,685 1,290 1,123
Retained earnings (13,692) (2,533) (7,202)
----------------------------------- ---------------------------- ---------- ------------
Total equity 26,714 7,576 2,850
----------------------------------- ---------------------------- ---------- ------------
Liabilities
Non-current liabilities
Trade and other payables 24 - 42
Lease Liabilities 2,247 1,739 983
Borrowings - 1,565 -
Total non-current liabilities 2,271 3,304 1,025
----------------------------------- ---------------------------- ---------- ------------
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 3,480 4,259 2,977
Deferred taxation 38 180 41
Lease Liabilities 1,873 - 444
Borrowings 1,318 185 1,703
Total current liabilities 6,709 4,624 5,165
----------------------------------- ---------------------------- ---------- ------------
Total liabilities 8,980 7,928 6,190
----------------------------------- ---------------------------- ---------- ------------
Total equity and liabilities 35,694 15,504 9,040
----------------------------------- ---------------------------- ---------- ------------
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
For the 6 months ended 30 June 2020
Unaudited Unaudited
6 months ended 6 months ended Audited
Year Ended
30 June 30 June 31 December
2020 2019 2019
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
------------------------------------------------------ --------------- --------------- ------------
Cash Flow from operations
Loss before income tax - continuing operations (6,754) (1,070) (5,806)
Adjustments:
- Depreciation & Amortisation 860 - 627
- For. Currency translation (463) (27) 75
-Transaction costs 1,335 696 711
- Net finance costs 200 218 350
- Share Option reserve 176 - 106
- Share of loss of Imutex 38 - -
Changes in working capital
- Losses/Impairments on Investments - - 231
- Lease Payments (889) - (279)
- (Increase)/Decrease Trade and other receivables 477 (20) 1,859
- (Increase)/Decrease Inventories (982) - -
- (Decrease)/Increase Trade and other payables 1,025 (218) (637)
------------------------------------------------------- --------------- --------------- ------------
Cash used in operations (4,977) (421) (2,763)
Income tax received/(paid) 1,395 - -
------------------------------------------------------ --------------- --------------- ------------
Net cash (used) in operating activities (3,582) (421) (2,763)
------------------------------------------------------- --------------- --------------- ------------
Cash flow from investing activities
Investment in subsidiary 2,276 38 36
Sale of Shares in Integumen Plc - - 531
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (PPE) (93) - (24)
Net Interest paid (100) (218) (117)
Net cash used in investing activities 2,083 (180) 426
------------------------------------------------------- --------------- --------------- ------------
Cash flow from financing activities
Net Proceeds from public placing in Jan and May 2020 16,603 5,211 3,685
Issuance of ordinary shares for CDSs - 1,382 -
CDS Issued or converted - (904) -
Premium on conversion of CDs to shares - - 273
Transaction costs (1,335) (696) (711)
Repayment of invoice discounting (155) - (21)
Net cash flow from financing activities 15,113 4,993 3,226
------------------------------------------------------- --------------- --------------- ------------
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 13,614 4,392 889
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 1,037 148 148
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 14,651 4,540 1,037
------------------------------------------------------- --------------- --------------- ------------
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Shareholders' Equity
Share Share Merger Share Option Retained
capital premium reserves reserve Foreign Currency reserve earnings Total
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
------------------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ ------------------------ ---------- -------
At 1 January 2019 - - - - (1,463) (1,463)
------------------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ ------------------------ ---------- -------
Changes in equity for 6
months
ended 30 June 2019
Total loss for the
period - (1,070) (1,070)
Currency translation
differences 1,290 - 1,290
------------------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ ------------------------ ---------- -------
Total comprehensive loss
for
the period - - - - 1,290 (1,070) 220
------------------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ ------------------------ ---------- -------
Transactions with the
owners
Shares issued to Public 80 3,809 - - 3,889
Investment In subsidiary 236 11,391 (6,856) 159 4,930
At 30 June 2019 316 15,200 (6,856) 159 - (2,533) 7,576
------------------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ ------------------------ ---------- -------
Changes in equity for 6
months
ended 31 December 2019
Total loss for the
period - (4,669) (4,669)
Currency translation
differences (167) - (167)
Total comprehensive loss
for
the period - - - - (167) (4,669) (4,836)
------------------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ ------------------------ ---------- -------
Transactions with the
owners
Shares issued to Public 1 15 - - 16
Share Option provision
reserve - - - 94 94
At 31 December 2019 317 15,215 (6,856) 253 1,123 (7,202) 2,850
------------------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ ------------------------ ---------- -------
Changes in equity for 6
months
ended 30 June 2020
Total loss for the
period - (6,490) (6,490)
Currency translation
differences 562 - 562
------------------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ ------------------------ ---------- -------
Total comprehensive loss
for
the period - - - - 562 (6,490) (5,928)
------------------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ ------------------------ ---------- -------
Transactions with the
owners
Shares issued to Public 204 15,631 - - 15,835
Share Option provision
reserve - - - 176 176
Investment In subsidiary 207 13,574 - - 13,781
------------------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ ------------------------ ---------- -------
At 30 June 2020 728 44,420 (6,856) 429 1,685 (13,692) 26,714
------------------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ ------------------------ ---------- -------
NOTES FORMING PART OF THE INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1. General information
Open Orphan Plc is a company incorporated in England and Wales.
The Company is a public limited company, listed on the AIM market
of the London Stock Exchange. The address of the registered office
is QMB Innovation Centre, 42 New Road, London E1 2AX, UK.
The Group is a specialist CRO pharmaceutical services company
which is the world leader in the testing of vaccines and antivirals
using human challenge study models.
On 28(th) June 2019, Open Orphan Plc (formerly Venn Life
Sciences Holdings Plc) completed an IPO on the London AIM Exchange
and the Dublin Euronext exchange through a reverse merger of Open
Orphan DAC, an Irish Company, into Venn Life Sciences holdings Plc,
a UK company.
On 17(th) January 2020, the Open Orphan Group completed a merger
to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of
hVIVO plc for an aggregate consideration of approximately GBPGBP13
million in equity. As part of this transaction, the Enlarged Share
Capital of the Group was readmitted to trading on AIM and Euronext
Growth on 17th January 2020.
The Group executed a placing on 31st January 2020 raising GBP
GBP5.3 million (before expenses) and a placing on 22 May 2020
raising GBP GBP12.6 million (before expenses).
During the period ended 30 June 2020, the following Board
changes occurred
-- On 17(th) January 2020, Cathal Friel, became Executive
Chairman; Brendan Buckley became Non-Executive director and Trevor
Philips, CEO of hVIVO Plc became CEO of Open Orphan Plc Group and
was appointed to the board. Christian Milla, Michael Ryan, Maurice
Treacy and David Kelly resigned from the board on 17(th) January
2020.
-- Michael Meade and Mark Warne were appointed to the board on the same date.
-- Leo Toole was appointed Chief Financial Officer on 13th
February and subsequently appointed to the board on 27(th) February
2020.
-- Trevor Philips resigned as a Director on 4th May 2020
On 1 April 2020, hVIVO plc was re-registered as a private
company, hVIVO Limited, to reflect its status as a wholly owned
subsidiary of Open Orphan plc. hVIVO Limited and its subsidiaries
are fully consolidated in line with the Group's accounting policy
as of 17(th) January 2020
2. Accounting policies and Basis of Preparation
The accounting policies applied by the Group in this financial
information are the same as those applied by the Group in its
financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019 and which
will form the basis of the 2020 financial statements with the
exception of the following:
-- Based on the accounting standards under IFRS 3 and IFRS 10,
the Group has determined that the entity with control of the
combined group after the 17 January 2020 combination is Open Orphan
plc. It was therefore determined that acquisition accounting is to
be applied for presentation of the financial statements of the
Company. This means that results reported for the period and
comparable periods reflect those of Open Orphan plc while the
Balance Sheet reported for the period and comparable periods
reflect those of the combined group with share capital reflecting
the position of the ultimate parent Company Open Orphan Plc.
-- The Board has decided to change the presentational currency
of the Group from Euro ( EUR ) to pounds Sterling (GBP) given the
increased weighting of our UK operations on our Financial
Statements as a result of the merger between Open Orphan plc and
hVIVO plc in January 2020. A ll values are rounded to the nearest
thousand (GBP'000) except where indicated otherwise.
The financial information presented herein does not constitute
full statutory accounts under Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006
and was not subject to a formal review by the auditors. The
financial information in respect of the year ended 31 December 2019
has been extracted from the statutory accounts which have been
delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The Group's Independent
Auditor's report on those accounts was unqualified, did not include
references to any matters to which the auditor drew attention by
way of emphasis without qualifying their report and did not contain
a statement under section 498(2) or 498(3) of the Companies Act
2006. The financial information for the half years ended 30 June
2020 and 30 June 2019 is unaudited and the twelve months to 31
December 2019 is audited.
There are no material events to report after the end of the
reporting period.
The Interim Financial Statements were approved by the Board of
Directors on 29 September 2020.
3. Loss per share
(a) Basic
Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the loss
attributable to equity holders of the Company by the weighted
average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period.
Unaudited Unaudited
6 months ended 6 months Audited
ended Year ended
30 June 30 June 31 December
2020 2019 2019
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Loss from continuing operations attributable to equity holders of
the Company (GBP'000) (6,490) (1,070) (5,739)
Total (6,490) (1,070) (5,739)
---------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- ----------- ------------
Weighted-average Ordinary Shares in issue 442,824,141 74,413,349 165,081,000
(b) Diluted
Due to the losses in the periods the effect of the share options
and warrants noted below were considered to be anti-dilutive.
6 Months ended 6 Months ended Year ended
30 Jun 2019 30 Jun 2019 31 Dec 2018
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Potential dilutive ordinary
shares:
Weighted Options 16,120,131 5,324,569 9,131,123
Weighted Warrants 5,854,796 6,234,278 6,651,204
21,974,927 11,558,847 15,782,327
4. Dividends
There were no dividends provided or paid during the six
months.
5. Proforma Statement of Comprehensive Income - Open Orphan Plc
(including OO DAC, Venn Life Sciences Group and hVIVO Group)
The schedule below reflects normalized Comprehensive Income for
Open Orphan Plc including OO DAC, Venn Life Sciences Group and
hVIVO Group as if they had been a single group across all 3 time
periods.
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
6 months 6 months Year
ended ended ended
30 June 30 June 31 December
2020 2019 2019
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
------------------------------------ ---------- ---------- ------------
Continuing operations
Revenue and other income 7,441 11,588 23,735
Direct Project and Administrative
expenses (13,083) (17,936) (35,748)
Operating (loss)/profit (5,642) (6,348) (12,013)
---------- ---------- ------------
Depreciation and amortisation (908) (1,093) (2,302)
Provision against virus inventory (-) (564) (825)
---------- ---------- ------------
EBITDA before exceptional items (4,734) (4,691) (8,886)
---------- ---------- ------------
Finance Income/(costs) (208) (442) (681)
Gain/(Impairment) of Financial
Asset Investments - 395 (1,563)
Share Options and Warrants Reserve (176) (159) (261)
Transaction costs re acquisitions
and mergers (1,336) (709) (934)
Share of loss of Associate and
JV (38) (24) (33)
Loss before income tax (7,400) (7,287) (15,485)
Income tax credit 264 554 993
------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- ------------
Loss for the period (7,136) (6,733) (14,492)
Loss attributable
Owners of the parent (7,098) (6,709) (14,459)
Non-controlling interest (38) (24) (33)
------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- ------------
Loss for the period (7,136) (6,733) (14,492)
------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- ------------
6. Share of loss of associates and joint ventures
hVIVO Limed holds equity investments in development stage
biopharmaceutical companies. As the invested companies are
incurring research and development expenditure to develop products
no revenue will be generated, and losses will be presented, until
the products are successfully commercialised.
At 30 June 2020, the Group held an investment in one associate,
PrEP Biopharm Limited, and one joint venture, Imutex Limited (see
Note 7). The carrying amount of PrEP Biopharm Limited was fully
impaired to GBPnil as at 31 December 2018. The carrying amount of
the other investment is considered to be fully recoverable.
The Group's share of after- tax losses of its joint venture is
set out below:
6. Share of loss of associates and joint ventures (Cont'd)
6 Months ended 6 Months ended Year ended
30 Jun 2020 30 Jun 2019 31 Dec 2019
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
GBP'000 EUR'000 EUR'000
Share of loss of joint (38) - -
venture
--------------- --------------- -------------
Share of total comprehensive (38) - -
loss
--------------- --------------- -------------
7. Investment in associates and joint ventures
A reconciliation of the carrying value of the Group's
investments in joint ventures and associates is as follows:
2020
EUR'000
At 17 January on acquisition 7,183
Loss after tax recognised in the consolidated
statement of comprehensive income (38)
At 30 June 7,145
8. Share based payments
As a result of the acquisition of hVIVO Plc on 17 January 2020,
hVIVO employees holding hVIVO LTIP options had the choice of either
exercising their options and receiving Open Orphan shares
immediately (Choice 1), or, exchanging them for equivalent Open
Orphan share options with the same vesting date (Choice 2) . In
total there were 1,672,961 hVIVO share options in existence at the
merger date. 157,920 option holders selected Choice 1, resulting in
390,061 Open Orphan shares being issued on 26th Feb 2020. The
remaining 1,515,041 hVIVO option holders selected Choice 2 and
exchanged to 3,742,147 Open Orphan share options. There have been
no further share options granted during the period to 30 June 2020.
In addition, hVIVO employees were granted free shares held in trust
pursuant to a Share Incentive Plan ("SIP") introduced by hVIVO on
21(st) January 2019, which are subject to a 3-year forfeiture
period. As a result of the acquisition of hVIVO plc these shares
were exchanged for Open Orphan shares and will be held in the SIP
on the same basis as the original hVIVO SIP shares. A share option
charge in relation to these new Open Orphan share options and SIP
shares of GBP176,000 (H1 2019: Nil) has been recorded in the income
statement for the period.
9. Press
A copy of this announcement is available from the Company's
website, being www.openorphan.com . If you would like to receive a
hard copy of the interim report, please contact the Open Orphan Plc
offices on +353 1 644 0007 to request a copy.
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END
IR KKCBQKBKBACB
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