Neuca expects further dynamic development of the CRO and SMO segments, while the fulfillment of the financial expectations of the OncoBay subsidiary may be postponed by 1-2 years, according to Grzegorz Dzik, vice president of finance.
“We maintain our financial expectations, which we published at the beginning of this year, but taking into account the market and the pace of obtaining contracts and their execution, we think that our expectations may be postponed by a year or two. However, we invariably focus on further development of both the CRO and SMO segments. The CRO segment should develop dynamically, which can be seen from the new net contracts acquired in the first half of this year. We expect further increases in new contracts, and thus – the backlog” – said Dzik during the press conference, when asked about expectations for the clinical trials segment in 2023 and maintaining OncoBay’s financial goals.
In early 2023, a subsidiary of Neuki completed a transaction to purchase 72.6% of OncoBay shares from the US for USD 33.5 million. OncoBay’s revenues in 2022 amounted to approximately USD 25 million, and the revenue forecast for 2023 was USD 70 million, it was reported then. In addition, OncoBay Clinical expected $16.6 million EBITDA in 2024.
In the report for the first half of the year, Neuca reported that the total backlog in the clinical trials segment, including SMO and CRO contracts, amounted to PLN 688.3 million as at June 30 this year. In the first half of the year, the patient and clinical trials business areas generated total sales revenues of PLN 428.6 million (vs. PLN 222.2 million y/y). In the second quarter of 2023, the sale of plots exceeded PLN 210 million (+83%).
In turn, President Piotr Sucharski commented on expectations regarding the profitability of the pharmaceutical production segment.
“Development is on schedule and very sustainable. To guarantee highly dynamic growth, you need to invest a lot and we manage to balance the level of investment with the results achieved, both at the level of sales and margin. Such a short-term decrease in profitability in the second quarter alone results from periodic promotional investments and will not affect the achievement of our market goals in the long term – increase in scale, increase in sales value, medicalization of the portfolio” – said the president.
Vice-President Dzik also informed that the company does not expect any further significant acquisitions by the end of this year, “maybe with the exception of single purchases in the area of medical clinics”.
The Neuca Group is a market leader in the wholesale of medicines. The total share of the Neuca group companies in the domestic pharmaceutical wholesale market in Q4 2022 was 31.6%. The Group is also developing a network of medical clinics, is an expert in the clinical trials segment, implements telemedicine projects and invests in health insurance. The company is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and is included in the mWIG40 index.