Oxford Biomedica revenues double after Covid vaccine contract boost

Oxford Biomedica has said Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing contracts helped revenues more than double over the first half of 2021.

The gene and cell therapy group saw shares jump on Wednesday after it also announced an investment from vaccine developer Serum Institute of India.

Oxford Biomedica said its revenues for the six months to June soared by 139% as a result of its vaccine agreement with AstraZeneca.

It said the production contract will mean revenue in the second half will stay at similar levels.

The group’s bioprocessing and commercial development arm saw a 223% leap in revenues over the past six months due to vaccine production, it said.

The company also confirmed that Serum Institute of India invested £50 million in the company in exchange for shares worth 3.9% of the FTSE 250 group.

John Dawson, Oxford Biomedica’s chief executive, said: “Everyone at Oxford Biomedica can be truly proud of what they have continued to achieve in 2021.

“The tireless commitment of the whole team has helped to save thousands of lives, in line with our mission, whilst gaining global recognition for our role in the fight against Covid-19.

“The exceptional financial results that we have reported reflect our strong progress across the business as we continue to demonstrate our world-leading expertise in gene and cell therapy.”

Analysts at Liberum hailed a “strong set” of results and highlighted that earnings projections of between £35 million and £40 million for the current year are ahead of previous forecasts.

Shares in the company increased by 5.6% to 1,561p in early trading.