A busy session across the health and bio sector saw a major capital raise, two upgraded trading statements and a senior leadership hire dominate newsflow, with smaller players also delivering on contracts and partnerships. The standout story was Ondine Biomedical's £10 million placing, which restored its shares to trading after a brief suspension, while IXICO and Optima Health both reported growth running well ahead of expectations.
Ondine Biomedical secures £10 million fundraise as shares resume trading
Ondine Biomedical (AIM:OBI) confirmed it has raised gross proceeds of £10 million, or C$18.88 million, through a placing and subscription, with trading in its shares restored on AIM at 7.30am on Tuesday. The AIM-listed medical device company, which develops light-activated antimicrobial therapies to prevent and treat hospital-acquired infections, will issue 100 million new common shares at 10p each to satisfy the fundraise announced the previous day. Shares in the company were changing hands at 10.25p, up 5.1% on the day.
Net proceeds will fund commercial expansion, US regulatory activity supporting a planned New Drug Application submission targeted for mid-2027, production and quality systems, and general administrative costs. The raise is expected to extend Ondine's cash runway into early 2028, and follows a £5 million placing completed in April that financed NDA preparation, GMP-compliant production batches and engagement with the US Food and Drug Administration ahead of a pre-NDA meeting now targeted for the first quarter of 2027.
"This £10 million fundraise positions the Company to accelerate commercial traction and international growth through targeted expansion of our sales and business development capabilities, while advancing the regulatory, manufacturing and submission activities required for our planned NDA submission in mid-2027," said Carolyn Cross, chief executive of Ondine Biomedical.
The back-to-back raises underline how capital-intensive the path to a US drug submission remains, even for a company riding positive clinical momentum. Ondine's September topline results from its Phase 3 LANTERN trial, which enrolled 5,188 patients across US and Canadian hospital sites and reported an estimated 40% relative reduction in 30-day surgical site infections against standard care, gave the company the clinical validation to justify this larger round. That Cross herself subscribed for 10.59 million shares in the placing signals management conviction that the near-18-month runway now bought is enough to carry the company through to NDA submission without a further dilutive scramble.
IXICO upgrades revenue growth again as orders accelerate
IXICO (AIM:IXI) said it expects revenue for the year to 30 September to reach £8.3 million, up 28% on the £6.5 million reported in financial year 2025 and ahead of market expectations, with shares in the neuroscience imaging and biomarker analytics group rising 9.7% to 8.5p on the update. The figure beats guidance issued as recently as 7 July, when the company upgraded its forecast from £7.5 million to £8 million, citing an acceleration in analysis orders during the final quarter.
The year-end order book stands at £16 million, up from £13.8 million a year earlier, improving revenue visibility heading into the new financial year. Cash at year-end stood at £10.4 million, against £3.5 million in 2025, reflecting a £9.4 million capital raise completed during the period, net of fees. "FY26 saw clear acceleration of this trend thanks to disciplined execution of our strategy driving strong demand for our neuroimaging capabilities," said Bram Goorden, chief executive.
This is the second upgrade inside four months, and the scale of the order book growth suggests the acceleration is structural rather than a one-off quarter of lumpy contract wins. "This has been a year of tremendous progress for IXICO," Goorden said, and with cash reserves nearly tripled, the company now has balance-sheet headroom to invest further in its AI-driven platform without returning to the market under pressure.
Oxford Nanopore appoints new business development chief
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LSE:ONT) has appointed Sebastian Kronmueller as Chief Business Development Officer, effective 4 January 2027, with shares in the sequencing group little changed at 207.6p, down 0.8%. Kronmueller will be based in the United States and lead the company's strategy and business development functions, including key strategic initiatives and partnerships, joining from Philips, where he is Head of Strategy and Ventures, after more than a decade at Siemens Healthineers in senior strategy and operational roles.
The hire extends a run of senior appointments at Oxford Nanopore this year, following the arrivals of Chief Medical Officer Davide Manissero in August, Chief Information Officer Andrew Watson in June and Chief Development and Product Officer David Miller in September. "Sebastian brings a rare combination of strategic insight and hands-on experience building businesses across diagnostics, genomics and healthcare," said Francis Van Parys, chief executive officer of Oxford Nanopore.
The cadence of appointments points to a company actively rebuilding its commercial leadership bench as it looks to translate its DNA and RNA sequencing technology into broader partnership revenue. Van Parys framed the need for discipline directly, saying the company must be "increasingly deliberate about where we focus, where we partner and where we invest, accelerate and execute," language that suggests a sharper commercial focus is being imposed from the top down.
Optima Health revenue jumps 60% on PAM Healthcare integration
Optima Health (AIM:OPT) told investors it expects first-half revenue of approximately £96 million for the six months to 30 September, around 60% ahead of the prior-year period's £59.5 million, with shares dipping 1% to 243.5p despite the strong update. The occupational health and wellbeing provider attributed the jump to the contribution from PAM Healthcare, acquired in March, alongside continued growth across its core operations, and said trading remained in line with the Board's expectations.
Optima completed the £100 million acquisition of PAM Healthcare on 26 March, a deal it has described as transformational in its push to become the leading occupational health provider across the UK and Republic of Ireland. Integration is progressing to plan, with operational and commercial synergies being realised across the enlarged group, and annualised new business wins totalled £10.6 million in the first half. "We have delivered a strong first-half performance, with revenue expected to be approximately 60% ahead of the prior year period, reflecting the successful integration of PAM Healthcare and continued growth across the Group," said Jonathan Thomas, chief executive.
The muted share price reaction to a 60% revenue jump suggests the market had already priced in the PAM Healthcare contribution, with investors instead watching for confirmation that integration synergies are being realised rather than just revenue consolidation. The Board's reiteration that full-year results remain in line with market expectations will matter more over coming months than this single trading update.
Physiomics wins £102,000 drug modelling contract
Physiomics (AIM:PYC), the drug development modelling specialist, has secured a new contract worth £102,000, with shares trading at 0.475p. The award adds to the company's pipeline of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modelling work supporting drug developers in optimising clinical trial design.
For a company of Physiomics' scale, individual contract wins of this size are material to near-term revenue visibility, and the award reinforces the company's positioning as a specialist modelling partner within the broader drug development services market.