Sparks - Oxford Biomedica

Oxford Biomedica reported first-half revenues of £73.2m, up 44% y-o-y, driven by strong demand for its cell and gene therapy manufacturing services. The contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) specialist significantly narrowed its operating EBITDA loss to £8.3m from £20.3m in the last comparable period. 

What’s going on here?
Oxford Biomedica’s H125 results demonstrate accelerating momentum in its CDMO strategy. The 44% revenue increase to £73.2m was driven by continued lentiviral vector manufacturing for clinical and commercial clients and growth in development services from process characterisation work. The company signed £149m in contracted client orders during the period, more than doubling year-on-year from £56m, providing strong revenue visibility. Operating performance improved dramatically with the EBITDA loss narrowing 59% to £8.3m. Cash consumption fell to just £4.8m from £48.6m previously, principally from operating loss improvement, disciplined cash control and enhanced working capital management via receipt of deposits and upfront payments from clients. 

What does this mean?
Oxford Biomedica’s transformation into a pure-play cell and gene therapy CDMO is clearly gaining traction across multiple fronts. The company’s multi-site, multi-vector model is attracting increased late-stage programme activity, with 48 client programmes spanning preclinical to commercial stages. Post-period strengthening of the balance sheet through a new $125m Oaktree loan facility and £60m equity placing provides financial flexibility for US commercial-scale expansion. The revenue backlog of £222m, with £171m of 2025 revenues already contracted, underpins confidence in full-year guidance of £160–170m revenues and low single-digit EBITDA profitability. 

Why should I care?
For investors, Oxford Biomedica could provide compelling exposure to the rapidly growing cell and gene therapy sector, with 2,210 therapies now in clinical pipelines worldwide. The company’s improving operational leverage is evident in gross margins expanding to 43% from 35%. Management targets operating EBITDA margins of 30%. over the next five- to six-year period. The strengthened balance sheet supports ambitious medium-term guidance of £220–240m revenues in 2026, and 25–30% annual growth in 2027–28.