Special Report: Opyl has more enquires from new clients than ever before, and 2021 could be a step change for the company.

Opyl (ASX:OPL) is on the cusp of a step change, with a potential 30 per cent hike in revenue on the cards for the 2020-21 financial year.

Opyl is set to act on a rise in expressions of interest and proposals during the June quarter, and says executing on a number of these will deliver the revenue spike.

“This is contingent on us closing and converting enquiries to contracts, but early indications suggest our revenue goals can certainly be met based on the calibre of the enquiries that we’re exploring,” Opyl chief Michelle Gallaher told Stockhead.

The company is working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, social media and healthcare. It delivers deep market insights from social media data and improves the efficiency and value of the clinical research process by employing artificial intelligence and emerging digital tools.

The June quarter saw Opyl winning its first contract through the partnership with UK sales and medical communication company huumun, which was with a multinational pharmaceutical company, and with the Australian Stroke Alliance.

The company said it’s still fielding higher than usual new client enquiries, influenced by the marked increase in the use and reliance upon social media by health, government and medical research.

Gallaher says most of the new contacts are inspired by the company’s collaboration with huumun, which has given them accelerated access to the right people in some of the biggest global pharmaceutical companies in the world.

“This is a speed of getting in front of clients which we could never have achieved on our own,” she said.

 

So many options

Gallaher says even though cash receipts dipped slightly to $739,000, the company “has more irons in the fire than ever before”.

“The last quarter shows the business is heading in the right direction and now the focus is building our client base and generating revenue from our platforms. The 2020/21 financial year has a strong focus on building revenue across the company.”

Opyl is also rapidly building out its clinical trial recruitment solution, which is on track and on budget.

The software is at proof of concept stage, but as a digital recruitment tool it will tap into the fundamental changes in clinical trial recruitment driven by COVID19.

“Australia is lucky because it’s relatively COVID-clean, which means it’s a destination of choice for clinical trials,” Gallaher said.

“We’ve seen an increase in enquiries around recruitment solutions because patients are not going in to see doctors as much, which has reduced the efficacy of that particular recruitment channel and recruitment has slowed. COVID has driven up the use of social media by patients and raised the awareness of clinical trials. Organisations are now more willing to explore digital recruitment strategies to ensure they meet enrolment targets on time and on budget.”

While full year cash receipts dipped slightly, impacted by the COVID19 pandemic and payment timing, Opyl has kept a tight lid on costs in fiscal 2020 as it builds out its social media market insights client offering, clinical trial predictor platform, clinical trial recruitment platform and social media recruitment service.

Opyl slashed the full year cash burn by 51 per cent, staff costs dropped by 35 per cent, and administrative costs plunged by 20 per cent.

The June quarter saw Opyl raise $730,000 which has put the company in a secure cash position.

This article was developed in collaboration with Opyl, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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