Oxford Biomedica H1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• First-half performance improved: Revenue rose 10% at constant currency to £80.2 million, led by a 20% increase in manufacturing revenue. Adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to £2.5 million, although OXB recorded a £7.6 million impairment charge on its French site.
• Demand and backlog strengthened: OXB signed 22 new clients, increased active programs to 60, and grew its revenue backlog to £299 million by the end of August. The pipeline reached $730 million at the half-year point, with growing contributions from AAV programs and U.S. opportunities.
• Guidance was maintained: Management reiterated 2026 revenue guidance of £180 million–£200 million and targets for at least double-digit EBITDA margins in 2027. The company expects a mid-single-digit margin by the end of 2026 and remains focused on reaching approximately £500 million in revenue by 2030.

Oxford Biomedica LON: OXB reported higher first-half revenue and improved operating EBITDA as manufacturing activity increased, while management reiterated its full-year 2026 revenue guidance and longer-term growth targets.

Revenue for the six months ended in 2026 rose 10% at constant currency to £80.2 million. Manufacturing revenue increased 20%, driven by a higher number of clinical and commercial launch batches, while development revenue rose 1%. Procurement-services revenue was broadly unchanged at £8.4 million, and license and royalty revenue declined to £1.2 million as Kymriah matured.

Operating EBITDA improved to a loss of £7.8 million from a £8.3 million loss in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITDA, excluding £6.3 million in one-off costs and a £1 million foreign-exchange gain, improved to a £2.5 million loss from a £3.9 million loss a year earlier. The company also recorded a £7.6 million impairment charge on property, plant and equipment at its French site, reflecting lower near-term revenue expectations there.

Commercial pipeline and client growth

Chief Executive Officer Frank Mathias said OXB continued to see demand for its cell and gene therapy contract development and manufacturing services. The company signed 17 new clients during the first half and said the figure had subsequently reached 22, including a client signed on the day of the presentation.

The commercial pipeline stood at $730 million at the half-year point, up 30% year over year. It was $659 million at the end of August, a change management attributed to converting opportunities into signed client orders rather than weakening demand. Contracted orders increased from £97 million at the half year to £127 million by the end of August, while revenue backlog rose from £193 million to £299 million.

OXB had 59 active client programs in September, up from 44 a year earlier, and said the number had reached 60 following a new signing. The company added 29 programs over the preceding year, while 14 programs concluded for reasons including funding constraints, clinical-data outcomes and safety concerns.

Chief Business Officer Sébastien Ribault said the company’s pipeline was becoming more diversified by vector type and geography. AAV opportunities totaled £289 million, surpassing lentiviral-vector opportunities of £265 million for the first time, according to the company. The U.S. represented 40% of pipeline opportunities in the third quarter, compared with 24% a year earlier, while France accounted for 24%, up from 13%.

OXB said nine programs had reached late-stage development or commercial status by the half year. Ribault said several late-stage programs were expected to reach biologics license application submission over the next 12 months, across oncology, dermatology, neurology and ophthalmology.

Guidance maintained despite timing factors

The company maintained its 2026 revenue guidance of £180 million to £200 million, with approximately £168 million of forecast revenue covered by contracted client orders. It also reiterated its target for 25% to 30% year-over-year revenue growth in 2027 and at least double-digit EBITDA margins that year.

Chief Financial Officer Lucy Crabtree said an August guidance update had been driven primarily by timing-related factors. These included client-program deferrals and delays associated with strategy changes or clinical data, more staged ordering of work packages by clients, and a change in approval pathway for one larger client.

Crabtree also said Durham experienced an approximately six-month delay in reaching GMP operational readiness, but had completed its first GMP run and was back on track. Ribault said client ordering behavior has shifted, particularly in Europe, as companies manage funding risk by contracting for feasibility, process development and GMP work in separate stages rather than committing to larger end-to-end packages at once.

“The delay is minimal,” Ribault said, but multiple contracting stages can collectively add eight to 10 weeks to a program timeline.

Cash position and margin plans

OXB ended the first half with £75.3 million in cash and net cash of £21.4 million. Net cash outflow from December was £34.3 million, with roughly half related to working-capital timing, partly offset by a $15 million drawdown under its Oaktree facility in March.

The company expects some first-half working-capital outflows to reverse in the second half as inventory converts into production. It expects capital expenditure to remain within aggregate guidance of about £50 million across 2026 and 2027, after spending approximately £7 million in the first half.

Management said it is targeting operating leverage through greater manufacturing utilization, procurement efficiencies, site specialization, productivity initiatives and a greater contribution from late-stage and commercial programs. OXB expects a mid-single-digit EBITDA margin at the end of 2026, at least a double-digit margin in 2027, and an EBITDA margin approaching 30% by 2030 or 2031.

Long-term outlook

OXB reiterated its ambition to generate approximately £500 million in revenue by 2030. Mathias said the company’s global network of five Oxford facilities, two U.S. sites and two French sites positions it to serve clients across development, GMP manufacturing and commercial supply.

The company also addressed recent reports of fatalities in certain CAR-T clinical trials for autoimmune diseases. Mathias said OXB had not seen related issues in the few programs in which it is involved and that its outlook remained unaffected.

Ribault said only two autoimmune programs, Cabaletta Bio and Kyverna, were included in the company’s £500 million revenue projections. He said OXB remained optimistic because both companies had disclosed positive clinical data and were in discussions with OXB regarding future patient volumes and manufacturing batches.

About Oxford Biomedica (LON:OXB)

Oxford Biomedica LSE: OXB is a quality and innovation-led cell and gene therapy CDMO with a mission to enable its clients to deliver life changing therapies to patients around the world. One of the original pioneers in cell and gene therapy, the Company has more than 25 years of experience in viral vectors; the driving force behind the majority of gene therapies. The Company collaborates with some of the world's most innovative pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, providing viral vector development and manufacturing expertise in lentivirus, adeno-associated virus (AAV) and adenoviral vectors.

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