Open Orphan #ORPH – New Contract win for Open Orphan’s Breda office

Open Orphan (AIM: ORPH), a rapidly growing specialist pharmaceutical services clinical research organisation (CRO) and a world leader in vaccine and antiviral testing using human challenge clinical trials, announces a new contract win of c. €900,000 with an existing customer for clinical trial management by our Breda, Netherlands office.

Cathal Friel, Executive Chairman of Open Orphan, said: “This new contract win demonstrates the ongoing and continued success of our Breda office which continues to sign multiple contracts and only those close to £1 million and above are announced. Our Breda office is getting more and more integrated with our London business, and the entire Open Orphan group is excelling as the global leader in the testing of vaccines, anti-virals and other infectious disease therapeutics.”  

Completion of CHIMagents acquisition

Separately, and further to the Company’s announcement of 15 July 2020, Open Orphan announces that it has completed its acquisition of CHIMagents Limited. CHIMagents was established to assist in the design, manufacture and testing of challenge agents for use in challenge studies. The CHIMagents team have been working alongside the Open Orphan team since July 2020 supporting the design, manufacture and testing of both new challenge agents and the Company’s industry leading portfolio of existing challenge study agents.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 (as implemented into English law) (“MAR”). With the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

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Notes to Editors

Open Orphan plc

Open Orphan plc (London and Euronext: ORPH) is a rapidly growing pharmaceutical service/contract research company that is a world leader in testing vaccines and antivirals using human challenge clinical trials. The company provides services to Big Pharma, biotech and government/public health organisations.

Open Orphan runs challenge studies in London from both its 19-bedroom Whitechapel quarantine clinic, opened in February 2021, and its 24-bedroom QMB clinic which also has a highly specialised virology and immunology laboratory on-site. Open Orphan has a leading portfolio of eight human challenge study models for conditions such as RSV, flu, asthma and COPD. In addition, Open Orphan is also developing the world’s first COVID-19 human challenge study model as part of the Human Challenge Programme and has signed a reservation contract with the UK Government for the first three COVID-19 vaccine challenge studies.

Building upon its many years of challenge studies and virology research, the Company is developing an in-depth database of infectious disease progression data. Based on the Company’s Disease in Motion® platform, this unique dataset includes clinical, immunological, virological and digital (wearable) biomarkers. The Disease in Motion platform has many potential applications across a wide variety of end users including big technology, wearables, pharma and biotech companies. Following COVID-19 there is now a renewed interest and investment in infectious diseases.

Open Orphan’s Paris office has been providing biometry, data management and statistics to its many European pharmaceutical clients for over 20 years. For over 15 years, the Company’s Netherlands office has been providing drug development consultancy and services, including CMC (chemistry, manufacturing and controls), PK and medical writing, to a broad range of European clients. Both offices are now also fully integrated with the London office and working on challenge study contracts as well as supporting third party trial contracts.