Half-year results from clinical services group Clinigen (CLIN) revealed significant organic sales growth - which helped drive a 54 per cent rise in underlying profit to £9.7m. Sustaining that heady pace of growth this year could prove challenging, but Clinigen has nonetheless demonstrated that it can grow sales even before adding more products to its existing portfolio.
The greatest organic growth was generated from studies for the biological-based medicines that biotech companies produce. Clinigen CTS, a clinical trials services business, sources comparator medicines for trials and a high number of large anti-viral trials in the half helped to double that division's revenue to £45.1m. However, larger global trials don't generate the sector's best profits, which explains why the segment's profit margin fell from 17 per cent to 13 per cent. Moreover, management doesn't expect the same level of activity in the second half. Meanwhile, the company's products arm, Clinigen SP, supplies the HIV-drug Foscavir and product sales here increased 22 per cent - due to a marketing licence granted in the US. Management reckons that growth rates for Foscavir will settle down, but there's no clear view on when.