00:00
Bram Gorden
we do also expect that EBIDA at the end of the day will be slightly uh above expectations and um we've definitely delivered also a better gross margin I would say.
00:15
Stephen
Hello, you're watching Proactive. I'm joined by Bram Gorden, the CEO of Ico. Bram, very good to speak with you. You've released a really strong set of financial results, exceeding already upgraded market expectations. What's driving Ico's accelerating growth?
00:30
Bram Gorden
Yes, hi Stephen and and thanks for having me. Great to be here again. It has been it has been a great year for for Ico. and I think the driver has really been that execution of the strategy which I introduced to you um around 12, 18 months ago, innovate, lead scale. So we've really been executing that with diligence and that has delivered new clients, um expansion of projects as well. Um as you may remember, we very much set out a strategy to go deeper into Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease as therapeutic areas. And then also other verticals, industry verticals with the blood-based biomarkers. and so that has delivered at the one hand more customers, uh but at the other hand also that move from uh phase one to phase two and phase three in the clinical development cycles. So really at the end of the day an increase of volume, an increase of activity with clients, uh but with discipline because we'll talk about it in a minute, I'm sure. Obviously, we did a capital raise as well. So we have been investing, but that again has been done with um or in a thoughtful fashion I should say, which means that we do also expect that EBIDA at the end of the day will be slightly uh above expectations and um we've definitely delivered also a better gross margin I would say.
01:40
Stephen
Bram, what's the current market opportunity and why is IXICO well positioned to sustain momentum?
01:48
Bram Gorden
That's a great question and that's actually the most exciting question. So Ico is here to help the development of novel solutions in the neurodegenerative uh disease space and I think that is really a thriving area now. That's an area where there's a lot of momentum. Um it has been a time that Ico has been waiting for if you wish. And that is driven of course by our customers. Uh as I mentioned, we're going into Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Why is that? Because we've seen approvals of therapies. Um you may remember the Biogen and Lilly approvals a little while ago. Those therapies are not there yet for all patients, which is why you see so many other programs, more than 150 currently in development for Alzheimer's disease. And the same is true for Parkinson's disease where we saw for example a very recent Parkinson's approval, but again, that is not going to be the one fit all solution. And then thirdly, as I mentioned, the blood-based biomarkers, so that's then the diagnostics where um again, we've seen in the press that the likes of Fujirebio, Roche and others have had approvals to help further diagnosis and we're very happy to support those of course.
02:53
Stephen
Uh you mentioned that capital raise, Bram. So during the 10 million pound fund raise back in April, you introduced your tech bio strategy. Can you remind us what that is and how it will unlock further value?
03:05
Bram Gorden
Yeah, the tech bio strategy is basically putting a label on something that has always been already part of the company. The company is founded in technology. We have an AI driven platform that basically informs the biomarkers which we feedback to our customers. We've been doing that now almost since two decades. Um but with this fund raise and with the tech bio strategy, we really put a spotlight on that technology and it allows me also with the team to now further invest and productize that platform. and so the themes have been automation, standardization and partnering. And so at the end of the day, the idea is that the platform now also starts to be partnered with some of the other players in the ecosystem and for Ico, um as a as a small cap player um in the UK, that means really standing on the shoulders of some global giants.
04:02
Stephen
What were you able to put in place since that fund raised Bram and how's it changing the company?
04:08
Bram Gorden
The investments, the investments that I mentioned before, investments in people. We are an AI-driven company. I was actually talking about it um last week at the BIA Tech Bio conference. Yes, we are an AI driven company, but that doesn't replace human expertise, right? So we've brought some new people on board that are at one hand helping increase the development of features and releases for the platform. So that has been the main uh investment priority and then also bringing further experts on board in these different disease areas. So it's really solidifying the basis uh which was what we set out to do with the capital raise.
04:58
Stephen
When will we next hear from IXICO with more details on the company's progress from?
05:04
Bram Gorden
You can expect me to come back around the end of the year, so in December, we will be looking forward to confirming the the results which we are quite proud of.
05:13
Stephen
Well we look forward to chatting with you then. Bram, thank you very much for your time today.
05:16
Bram Gorden
Thank you.
05:17
Stephen
That's Bram Gordon, the CEO of Ico.
