Physiomics Plc (PYC) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Physiomics Plc Interim Results Investor Presentation. [Operator Instructions] The company may not be in a position to answer every question it received meeting yourself. However, the company can review all questions submitted today and publish responses when it's appropriate to do so. Before we begin, I'd like to submit the following poll. And I'd now like to hand you over to Dr. Peter Sargent, CEO. Good afternoon to you, sir.

Thank you. Hi all, and thank you for joining our investor update presentation today. So as I think most of you will know, my name is Peter Sargent. I'm the new CEO here at Physiomics. I'm also joined here today by Dr. Jim Millen, who will be taken part in the Q&A session towards the end of the meeting. So today, I'd like to provide a quick overview of the business for Physiomics for those of you who are less familiar with what we do here. I'd then like to touch upon interim results and provide you some progress as to how we're getting on in the second half. And before finishing off with providing you some more information around our strategy going forward. So for those of you who are less familiar with Physiomics, the business is primarily a consultancy company based here in the U.K., just south of Oxford. And we provide mathematical modeling and data science services to biopharma in support of their drug development efforts. I'll go into a bit more detail as to how we support these companies to our core service offering. But ultimately, the business has been built around 3 main areas of expertise and capability, as you can see in this Venn diagram to the left of this slide. The first area is around Quantitative Pharmacology. So for those of you who are not familiar, that is looking at how drugs interact with biological systems such as within humans. The second area is Data Science and Biostatistics. So this is the ability to create and analyze large and complex data sets, which is certainly important in this day with the increase -- the vast increase in data being generated from R&D programs. And the third area is our deep understanding in Disease Biology, and specifically for Physiomics, around cancer biology. So now having worked on over 100 client projects, the company is looking at how we can build upon our core service and drive additional growth by leveraging these capabilities in other areas. So this includes expansion of our services in such areas as biometrics as well as developing products and tools to support precision medicine. So to focus in on our core mathematical modeling services, so we support our clients across the drug development continuum, really as far upstream as discovery right through to the clinic. And ultimately, what we do here is help them gain deeper insights from both the data generated from their own internal R&D programs, but also data in the public domain. And these insights really help our clients gain and make smart decisions when designing their research programs, but also helping gain insights that can support them in their kind of regulatory submissions. So I won't go into each of these various areas in which we can provide support but typically, our sweet spot is around that translational phase. And what I mean there is really supporting help -- support, helping clients take that drug out to the lab from preclinical and into humans in the clinical. Even though the main focus of the business, as I said, is up to this point, has been around our core mathematical modeling service, it is our strategy to build adjacent service lines. And as I mentioned in my previous presentation in January, starting with biometrics, and the reason for starting off here is that the service leverages much of those kind of current expertise and capabilities we have in our core service offering. So that's around mathematics and data analysis. And the aim here is to really help focus these capabilities on a service line, which we believe is potentially even more scalable than our current core service line. And the reason why we feel this new service would be potentially more scalable is because of the fact of the use of biometrics is essential for so many parts of drug development and certainly, for any kind of clinical trial being set up and delivered. So this service, the aim of this is to really support companies in both designing trials, [indiscernible] to conduct and reporting and ensuring the data, which is captured, is optimal for them to get the readout they're wanting from the trial. So in addition to the new service line, many of you will also be aware that we've also been developing a personalized dosing tool. So kind of more of an asset-based value add to the business. So as of last financial year, so back in June 2023, we've been able to develop an algorithm-based tool to support clinical decisions on dosing chemotherapy for cancer, so really helping optimize the treatment cancer patients receive. So much of this work to date has been funded through a variety of grants, including from the Innovate U.K. and [indiscernible]. And as of July 2023, some of the key announcements, which we kind of released, were around the completion of the PARTNER study back in December 2022, which able to help us confirm the ability of the tool to model timing and extent of neutropenia following chemotherapy. We also announced a partnership with a point-of-care business, diagnostic business called Beyond Blood Diagnostic who are developing a tool that can be used to carry out those additional blood tests. Our tool will be -- will need to be used within the clinic, and their tool is designed, as you can see by the little picture in the top right of the screen, to be portable and be able to be used within the community of primary care setting. And then also, we have able to -- as we've been developing this tool, we've also been able to identify additional value of this tool, and that's the use in predicting utility of an expensive biological drug, G-CSF, which is used in the treatment of neutropenia. So again, this is where we are to date, and I can provide in the next few slides a bit more of an update as how we're getting on with each of these programs. So focusing in on this year and how the business has performed in the first half, this slide provides those financial highlights we published in our interim just over a week ago. So as of the first 6 months ending the 31st of December 2023, the business generated GBP 374,000 worth of revenue, setting a record as our best first half to date, and being GBP 36,000 higher than last year. It is important to note here, at this point in time, the mathematical modeling service line is the only revenue generating part of the business. And I see this growth really is kind of a reflection of our continued effort in this space and our efforts kind of drive the pipeline. Total income, so this is the revenue plus income generated from grant funding, is also higher than last year. And operating loss is down GBP 51,000 from the previous year, a reflection of kind of our increase in the revenues, as I just mentioned, but also optimize utilization of our kind of permanent and contractor staff and also move to a more flexible office space late last year. Cash and equivalents were also down GBP 95,000 to GBP 403,000, and shareholder funds reduced by GBP 90,000 compared to the same period last year, really kind of as a reflection of us investing in the growth of the business. So from a revenue perspective, as I mentioned, the first half of this year has been our best first half on record. And based on this as well as some of the kind of progress we're already making in the second half, which I'll go on to provide you a bit of detail around, we are tracking against market revenue expectations as posted by our broker, Hybridan. So that's in their research, they were predicting revenues of GBP 850,000 and a total income of GBP 900,000 for the year. So as you will see in the next few slides, this -- the progress, we are making good progress in the second half including kind of the significant new contracts awarded and one we announced earlier on today. Again, I will point out here that these revenue figures are generated kind of clearly from the mathematical modeling service lines or our core service line, and therefore, don't incorporate the other areas such as biometrics and personalized dosing and those revenues do not incorporate the grant [indiscernible]. So looking back at perhaps some more of the operational kind of highlights from the first 6 months. So we were pleased to have been awarded a number of sizable contracts, as shown here, some of which contributed significantly to our first half revenues. But also some like the Numab opportunity here. And that contract is projected to provide revenue as far into 2025. We also announced, as part of our biometrics initiative, the appointment of the Head of Biostatistics last October, really helping us kick off the new service builds and go-to-market operational strategy. And then within the personalized medicine space, we're awarded an Innovate U.K. grant to support and further development of our tool. So to give you a bit more information about this grant. So this is a project led by Physiomics in collaboration with Beyond Blood Diagnostics, the partner I mentioned previously, and also Blackpool NHS Trust. And this grant is projected to run until 2025. The total award is GBP 570,000, of which GBP 137,000 will be direct funding to the business. And finally, more from a business perspective -- kind of broader business perspective, two of the changes, obviously, I haven't said here. So myself joining the business, just over 6 months ago, initially joining as COO to support Jim, and then recently stepping up as CEO. And then also late last year, we also announced the move of offices, moving from Oxford Science Park to Milton Park where we are now. So it's been a busy first half. Looking at where we are this half so far, we are pleased to announce a number of new contracts. First one is a new Numab contract. So this is similar to the one we were awarded in the first half. However, it's supporting the client around different assets and then actually, a different therapeutic kind of focus. So the contract in the first half was focused towards dermatology and this is now oncology. Similar to the last contract, this is also more of a long-term project due to continue over the next few years, therefore, really kind of helping the business kind of secure longer-term revenue. We continue to progress our partnership with the University of Sheffield around developing a novel oncology drug screening tool. This award was only relatively small at GBP 45,000, but we do see this as a very positive sign for future more significant work there. Then finally, as you may have seen today, we have also been awarded a new large contract from an existing pharma client valued at over GBP 177,000, and this is in line with a couple of other change orders, which we signed with them to continue on and to finalize some previous projects. Unfortunately, I can't disclose the client's name at this time, but we do see this again as a kind of a positive sign in further work to come. Moving on to kind of biometrics. Unfortunately, at the moment, we are not able to provide any further update on biometrics, but just to say this is progressing. And as soon as we can provide an update, we'll be sure to do so. And then finally, kind of personalized medicine perspective, the Innovate grant I talked to in the previous slide is on track with the first quarter milestone now complete. A research nurse has been recruited by Blackpool NHS, who will be instrumental in helping to kind of deliver that trial. And the protocol is in the final draft close to being ready to be submitted to the regulators and the ethics body. So all going well to plan there. In addition to the Innovate grants, we've also been able to reengage with our U.S. partner, DoseMe, around incorporation of our tooling, the updated dosing platform, and we're in discussions with them around a potential expected trial to help refine our tool further. And obviously, as we progress those elements, we will be sure to update you on. I won't mention -- I won't talk any further about my appointment as CEO. But just to say, obviously, there was the transition from myself and Jim over the last couple of months. So following my investor update presentation last November, I did get some positive feedback regarding sharing more detail around our pipeline and it's kind of the active projects ongoing in the business. So I wanted to do the same here, just to let you know how things are progressing. Certainly, this calendar year, we've stepped up efforts quite significantly in our business development and marketing. And just last week, we sponsored the World ADC event based in London. So that's the Antibody-Drug Conjugate event based in London, where we're able to meet a number of new prospective clients. And this event is just really the start of what we've got planning for the rest of the year. I think there's 10 other events, which we've got targeted into a mix or kind of business partner and more scientific events. We're also still trying to increase awareness of Physiomics in the market with our newsletters and social media. But also what for me is exciting this year is, we have a number of scientific publications in the pipeline, and these kind of peer-reviewed articles are a great tool when engaged with clients as they help us validate our expertise and the use of mathematical modeling and quantitative pharmacology in drug development. So really important marketing tools for us. All this upfront effort is certainly helping us kind of drive our BD pipeline. And certainly, over the last couple of months, we've been super busy talking to new clients and writing proposals. And I think this uptick in effort is certainly reflected in the size of our pipeline value. And compared to what I reported to you all back in November last year, our value has increased by almost GBP 0.5 million from GBP 1 million to GBP 1.5 million. I must note here that this is an unweighted pipeline value and therefore, requires all of those opportunities to convert into contracts to generate that value. So as I'm sure you're all aware, there is a natural attrition. So we, as a business, are continually looking at how we can refill the top of the pipeline to keep that overall value kind of growing. Regarding projects currently in delivery here in Physiomics, we have 8 active projects currently being worked on at this point, and currently 1 project in what we call a [ paused ] phase, whilst the client generates new batch of data, which is very typical for a lot of the projects which we deliver here. So switching gears slightly to looking towards the future. I think I presented this slide back in January last year, and this highlights some of our key aims around each of those service lines and the personalized medicine tool. So our modeling service line, this will remain a key priority for us as a business. We will continue to look to drive growth in this area as well as look at ways of kind of increasing kind of the success rate of that conversion rate. And I'll come back to this actually in my next slide, how we do this. But also, we're looking at the service line and how we can drive operational excellence and kind of build new capabilities. I mentioned previously about looking at expanding into different therapeutic areas, which we have started to do, and always are looking at how we can offer our services further up the drug developments continuum. About biometrics, efforts are going into this to explore how we can accelerate the rollout, both developing, offering go-to-market strategy and also building the kind of operational capabilities for us to actually deliver on projects. And then finally, for the personalized medicine tool, we'll retain a focus on that current grant and also build on kind of the existing relationships. So we're still progress our relations with DoseMe and Beyond Blood and Blackpool to really help drive the development of that asset. So in addition to these aims, I kind of stated on the previous slide. And since starting of the business, I've also been assessing our operating model. So exploring ways on which we can drive growth and operational efficiency across our business. And as a result of this exercise, we've identified a number of areas of -- to focus. I'm presenting here the most immediate, I guess, low-hanging fruit opportunities but there are also some more mid-term areas, which I am not presenting here, which have been identified so we'll be able to provide you updates on those in the coming months. We're focusing initially on these immediate teams and around starting off with people. One of the major gaps we feel we need to help drive growth in this business is around the recruitment of a permanent core modeling service line lead. So that's someone who can support both business development in growing that pipeline and going back to that increase in the kind of conversion rate, in that success rate, taking the lead in providing kind of that important solution into prospective clients. But also that person's role will provide the technical governance and support to the project delivery team, helping to drive the operational excellence, so ensuring that we can deliver projects to time and target. In addition to these new -- this new role, we've also started rolling out a variety of different tools within the business. So a new pricing tool to support and to ensure that we value and can price our projects effectively. And also kind of project management and client management tools to really sure -- to be sure for us to be able to manage the scope of the projects and also maximize the utilization of our team. Finally, this last few months, we've also invested in some technology. We've recently purchased a new server and move to new data storage and kind of data security solutions. And really, the aim here is to ensure that we have the right technology platform needed to support our growth ambitions both from core modeling service, but also thinking ahead to the biometrics service line. So I'll finish off there, but perhaps just to summarize today's presentation before going into the Q&A section. So as reported, we started this year off strong with record levels of kind of first half revenues. We continue to drive our business development pipeline, so increasing by almost 0.5 million since November. We've been awarded 3 contracts and 3 contract extensions already in the second half. We continue to progress our biometrics capability development, exploring ways in which we can accelerate this. As I mentioned, the Innovate U.K. funded trial we set up and to support the development of the personalized dosing tool is progressing to plan. And there are developments, some exciting developments around the DoseMe partnership. And then finally, as I mentioned in the previous slide, we've also been making progress around looking at that new operating model and what we need to do as a business to position ourselves for success. So perhaps I will stop there, and we can then move on to the Q&A section.

[Operator Instructions] But just while the company take a few moments for you to ask those questions submitted today, I'd like to remind you that recording of this presentation along with the copy of the slides and published Q&A can be accessed via your investor dashboard. We have received a number of questions, but please submit them on live. And Jim, if I could just hand over to you just to check the Q&A, that would be great, and I'll pick up from you at the end.

Yes, sure. Can you hear me okay, Pete?

Yes, I can hear you fine, Jim.

Okay. Wonderful. So we will answer, as usual, as many of the pre-submitted questions as possible plus any that have come in over the course of this call. Question -- first question to you, Pete, what is the most challenging aspect of being the new CEO?

Yes. Well, look, I'm still relatively new in post. I think it was the end of January when I stepped up as CEO. So I've sort of got some of that learning curve, so to speak. But I am lucky enough to have a strong team here to support me. And Jim, you remain in the business as sort of a great support to me as well. But I guess one of the biggest challenges I'm facing -- I have came through my presentation, we are trying to make some positive changes in the business. And I guess one of the challenges is realizing those changes into added value and increased revenues. For example, we are investing more and going out to conferences and events to increase our BD efforts. And even though we are seeing very positive signs around the number of kind of client engagements we're having and the value of our pipeline, the time it takes for that to then translate into actual contracts and revenue, it takes time. So it can be challenging, it can be frustrating at times, but I think that's certainly a challenge for us.

I guess just to say from my perspective, I think you're doing a great job so far and obviously building on the legacy that you've inherited. But I think the fact that the pipeline is growing is definitely a significant feature since your joining. Obviously, we get questions from shareholders from time to time around what is our conversion rate, and we can't be too specific about that because it will vary from time to time. But clearly, that is a key factor and one that we're highly focused on. So another question to you, Pete, what do you see as near-term catalysts for the business?

Yes. So I think I touched upon this in the presentation, but certainly, the near-term focus is still around that core modeling service and converting these opportunities into contracts, ultimately driving revenue. We are putting more efforts into BD and building that pipeline, as I mentioned. And also, hopefully, trying to tackle the success rate, the conversion rate, translating these opportunities into contracts and increased revenue. I guess, midterm, kind of the next 12 months, we also hope that the consultant service lines such as [ Biostats ] that will start making a material contribution. Again, I mentioned that all of our revenue at the moment is coming from that core service line. So as we bring those adjacent service lines online, hopefully, that will make a significant impact in the business.

So we had a question in relation to new contracts and in particular, the fact that we kind of said, watch the space a little bit earlier in the year. So yes, just to comment on new contracts, I guess.

Yes. I think still watch this space to a large extent. I hope you've seen by this presentation that there is a lot of progress, a lot of positive signs coming from the business. There's progress in our pipeline, increasing the value of our pipeline. There's been some really exciting kind of large, high-value new contracts being signed. Just thinking about that pipeline, there's -- we are -- as well as increasing the value, we are moving more of those opportunities to the later stages. I think last November, looking at the breakdown of our pipeline, we had 5 opportunities at the proposal negotiations stage, whereas today, I think there's around about 8 at that stage. We continue to try and kind of push these contracts as quick as we can. But often, the speed in which we can do that is in the hands of our clients. But we are making progress. So there's been some really exciting contracts, which we're delighted to announce.

In relation to new U.K. biotech client that we announced last fall, are we able to name this client? Was the work well received? Could there be further projects with them?

Yes. Look, unfortunately, we're not able to disclose this client's name for a variety of reasons, some clients are not happy for us to disclose their names in our announcement. Every time we win a new contract, we ask our clients whether we can use their name because it's something which we quite like to do, but some companies are sensitive around announcing the fact that they are either outsourcing large projects, are not progressing some of this work inside, and some companies just do not want to publicize the types of work they are performing on their assets. For this U.K. client specifically, the project -- I can say the project did go very well, and it was actually finalized last month. We're still in contact with them and we hope as their program advances, we hope to support them again in the future.

So we have a question asking whether we may follow in the footsteps of companies like BenevolentAI and Exscientia. And I assume, although it's not explicitly stated but that means -- would we start to develop our own drugs, which is what these companies are doing?

Yes, exactly. So look, we have no near-term plans to develop our own kind of pipeline of drugs. But this is a common path as service-based companies expand and we will certainly be keeping this as a kind of a strategy and under review.

Yes. I mean, obviously, it represents an interesting opportunity, but sets up a huge amount of capital. So definitely not something we're looking at right now, but we will keep under review as the company grows. Okay. Let's go to this one. So this is a question in relation to a position that we've advertised recently for Principal Consultant Head of Modeling. And the question relates to whether -- to what extent that overlaps with work that our consultant, Dr. Mistry, does for us? Are there any implications for the business in the short term and going forward?

Look, I think Hitesh is -- continues to work with and support Physiomics. But as I mentioned in my presentation, we feel that as a business, we need a permanent in-house team member to really -- how it provides that kind of capacity and better position us for growth, supporting our business development efforts with that sort of solution in, being a technical and expert leading those discussions as well as supporting the operations and deliver projects effectively.

Thanks, Pete. There's a question on our relationship with DoseMe, which I guess I'll take in relation to whether we're continuing to work with them on our doxetaxel and other personalized dosing tools. The short answer is yes. You recall that we did some market testing of our tool implemented on their platform last year and the feedback was positive, but the challenges were taking those extra blood tests, which we're now addressing partly through our relationship with Beyond Blood Diagnostics, as Pete mentioned earlier. But also the feedback was that although docetaxel is interesting, if we could say something about how, under what circumstances G-CSF should be used, then that would be even more interesting still. And so as a result of that, as we've said previously, we applied for one, a very substantial Innovate U.K. grant, which started at the end of last year. And one of the very specific objectives that grant is to gather more data in order to look at whether we can expand the tool to be able to be more predictive of the value of G-CSF and we're doing that through Innovate U.K., but we're also in discussion with DoseMe around whether or not there may be some way we can work with them to gather more data to develop this tool further. So at the risk of saying, watch this space again, please watch this space. So another question in relation to fundraising. There's a question that is essentially, we raised some cash last summer and what proportion of this money has been used? To be honest, we're not going to comment in detail about how many thousands of pounds have been used for which purpose. All I would just point out, other than saying that our numbers are obviously in the public domain very, very much so, the purposes of that fund raise were -- the main purposes were expansion and diversification of our client base. And indeed, as Pete highlighted, we have done that, expansion of the consulting business into adjacent service areas, which is ongoing, and exploration of further opportunities relating to personalized medicine. I guess a couple of specific facts. About 1/3 of our revenue in this recently reported period was from new clients. And around, not far short of half, around about 40% of the opportunities in the pipeline currently also from new potential clients. So we really feel we made some progress in terms of expanding the client base. And obviously, in terms of personalized medicine, we were able to apply some of the funds that we raised last summer to our grant application, which we won and was announced just before Christmas. So I do believe that we've started to deliver on those 3 objectives and the capital raised for those purposes was certainly a contributing factor. Another question about advisory Board meetings. Do we still have them? Should we report on them? I guess, just to say that we do hold advisory boards, but only on an ad hoc basis. So they're not regular events and they tend to be focused more on our asset-based plays such as the personalized dosing tool. We will continue to have them from time to time but they don't generally relate to the core business, core consulting business of the company. And we will, in all likelihood, not report in detail on their outcomes. They're more for internal guidance. So that's the answer to that question. There is a question in relation to what our market expectations. Maybe I'll just take that one as well. When we say market expectations, we essentially mean the guidance that's provided by our broker, Hybridan. And that is that currently, we're expected to deliver around 900,000 of total income. So that's revenue plus grant income in the current financial year. So that's what we mean when we say we're continuing to trade in line with market expectations. Obviously, that benchmark may change from time to time. I don't believe it's changed recently, and that would come through additional notes published by Hybridan. We have 2 questions on ValiRx. One is that we have a close working relationship with the team at ValiRx. And although we can't comment on that company, do we think we're -- there are there any issues with our association with them, given the various things that are going on there at the moment? I think the short answer is no, I don't there's any issues. We have had a close relationship with ValiRx over the years. We've worked with them some time ago, which led to the value sharing agreement, which we've discussed on several occasions. But our financial and operational success is not dependent on what happens at ValiRx. I do wish them all the best going forward and hope to see them emerge as a strong and successful company going forward. Second question on that similar topic. In relation to value-based deals or value sharing deals, can we confirm that the deal relating to some of ValiRx's assets where we get a royalty effectively on any licensing revenue from those assets is still active? And are there any other such deals in discussion? So answering the first part of that question, yes, it's still active. There's been no change on that front although it's obviously subject to ValiRx closing a licensing deal with the relevant assets. And the second part of that question, we're always on the lookout for creative ways to enter into agreements with companies. But the majority of our agreements will remain traditional consulting fee-for-service agreements. If we see an opportunity to do something smart, then we will certainly take that. There's a question about the difference between RNSs and RNS reaches. I have a feeling that one's come up before and it does in fact come up on quite a regular basis. So the question is, why does some go out as RNSs, other go out as RNS reach? And what are the cost implications, if any? Pete, maybe you want to take this one?

Yes, I can take this one. So as I'm sure many of you are aware, regulatory news service are an asset, it's an important tool for companies like Physiomics to update investors around some of important news and around the business. When information is price-sensitive, so such as kind of financial results or being awarded kind of large significant contracts, so these are typically posted as RNSs, whereas it's kind of more the nonprice sensitive for the news goes out typically as RNS reach, such as kind of informing you all of such events such as today, such as like the [ RMT ] presentation. There is a small charge for these announcements by the London Stock Exchange for each of the kind of the new releases. However, we're not guided around the kind of the cost of the announcement, we really guided around what we are announcing, if that makes sense.

Yes. We're also advised by our known ad, obviously, in terms of whether a particular announcement should go out via one channel or the other. But irrespective of whether it's an RNS or a reach, they all end up on our website, on the RNS new service and they're usually also on the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. So another question for you, Pete, which I think I've been accused of having dodged in the past. Do you feel that Physiomics is undervalued? And can you comment on that?

Yes, I may have to dodge this, too. Unfortunately, I can't comment on the value of the business. But I can't comment on the reason why I joined Physiomics. I do truly believe that the business has enormous value. There's increase in regulatory pressures on drug development companies to use those kind of such services we offer in drug development. And thinking about the business and growing the business, I'm not shy to build on what has been done before and explore different strategies. So I think the company has got a huge potential. But whether it's undervalued or not, unfortunately, I have to dodge that one as well.

So there's a question about share options here. Let me just parse it for you. So we do issue share options from time to time, supposedly to align employees with shareholders. Is there any proof that this works? That's a tough one to answer. I would say that most companies and most sort of people's understanding of financial theory suggest that share options are a good way to align management behavior with shareholder interests. I think we would agree with that. I don't think we abuse that system. We don't issue share options very frequently. They're always at at least market. Some of Pete's were above market as well in terms of strike price. And also, I think you have to balance the issuance of the incentivization versus long-term means such a share options with core salaries, which remain relatively modest at Physiomics. So we think that we've got the balance about right there. Should we go to a couple of the questions that came in during our presentation. So Pete, if you want to think about that first one, I'll answer the other two while you just have a think about the one that's specifically directed at you there. But in terms of the other two. So one is asking how we know whether we're charging clients an appropriate amount for each contract and not undervaluing the work that we do? That's a great question, actually. And we do actually spend a certain amount of effort to try and understand our pricing model versus our competitors. Obviously, very often, that pricing is not available directly on competitive websites, but we've got plenty of informal ways in which we can do competitive intelligence, and whether that be against other modeling companies or other companies that provide similar sort of professional services to R&D-based biotechs and pharma companies, we have increased our prices over the course of the last year or 18 months as we see other companies having done -- taken similar stance. And we feel that we're positioned about right. But of course, we're also smart when we enter into contract negotiations and I can't remember ever having walked away from a contract where a client has come back and asked us to give them a modest discount. There's always room for flexibility in negotiation, but we do think we have a reasonable handle on this and that we're about right at the moment. Second question that I'll take before I hand back to Pete would be, do we expect to receive further grants to support our growth? This is just something that we constantly keep under review. Obviously, pretty much all of the grants that we've received during my tenure here have been in the -- we've applied them to our personalized medicine initiatives, and that's unlikely to change in the immediate future. Clearly, we're only just starting off with the current Innovate U.K. funded grant study, but that doesn't stop us constantly horizon scanning and looking for other possible grant opportunities. So that's an ongoing thing. Question specifically to Pete. It says, welcome. Pete's got a track record of business development. Will he be overseeing business development at Physiomics? And to what extent will your Rolodex from your previous roles, Pete, be relevant in helping to expand the pipeline? Do you think that, that's already -- that's already happened? Or is there more to come going forward on that?

Look, I think since starting at Physiomics, one of the first areas I wanted to focus my efforts towards was supporting our Head of Business Development in looking at how we can grow our pipeline, how we can better engage with new clients and also implement the kind of the necessary tools and marketing materials to do so. Is this what's increase in the pipeline? I'd like to think so. I'm not taking the full credit for that, though. I think our Head of Business Development has been doing a great job in growing that side of the business. I will continue supporting her as we move forward as well as looking at kind of other areas such as the principal role we mentioned that can help support business development. Regarding my networks, yes, it's always useful to have kind of some links into some of the big pharmaceutical companies as I have. But also, I think certainly, what I can bring to the business is the broader networks, which I call almost the business development and community across the U.K. and further, which helps us engage to like a secondary kind of person into a company. An example of that is, I worked very closely previously with the U.K. Department of International Trade. And through them, we can then engage with other people with the company. So yes, we'll keep on focusing on supporting business development, we've grown our pipeline.

And then -- so I think that's all the questions that came in during the presentation. So just finally, there were a couple of questions on, as one might expect, on the share price and the value of the company. Similar questions put in various different ways. The thrust being, what are we doing about it? What's going to happen going forward? Do we feel like the company is turning a corner? And what is the reason to believe? So again, just to summarize, and at the risk of repeating some of the things that we've said already, here's why I believe. On the core business, the pipeline is expanding. We're working hard on conversion rates. We are significantly diversifying the business. As we've said, over the course of the last 6 to 12 months, we've added new clients. We're also looking to add positions to the business, which are chargeable positions, so not more management, but more people who can do and support the doing of the projects. On the personalized medicine front, we've won an enormous -- I think our largest ever, Innovate U.K. grant and probably the largest grant that we've participated in of any nature recently. We continue in dialogue with DoseMe, the U.S. -- our U.S. partner, looking for ways to opportunities to try and commercialize our personalized dosing assets in the U.S.. And also in parallel with all of that, we are very actively looking to expand our horizons in terms of the sorts of consulting work that we do. And then last but not least, I'm very excited to be working with Pete now, who's highly experienced new CEO that brings a lot of very relevant skills to the table. And alongside of that, we've restructured the Board in order to support Pete and support the company. So we feel like things are moving in the right direction, and we very much hope that, that will be reflected in the share price going forward. So listen, I'm going to, I think, call an end to the meeting at that point. There are no further questions that have come in. Hopefully, we addressed the vast majority of those that were submitted prior to the meeting. Just to thank you very much for your support of the company and for your attention today. Thank you.

Perfect. Peter, Jim, thank you for updating investors today. Could I please ask investors not to close this session as you'll now be automatically redirected to provide your feedback in order that the management team can better understand your views and expectations. It's going to take a few moments to complete. Some should be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of Physiomics Plc, we'd like to thank you for attending today's presentation, and good afternoon to you all.