Mo Khan of Open Orphan discusses their £5m RSV human challenge study contract win

Mo Khan, CEO of Open Orphan #ORPH discusses their new £5m respiratory syncytial virus human challenge study contract with a European biotechnology company to test its intravenous antiviral candidate, using the hVIVO RSV Human Challenge Study Model.

The study is expected to commence this year and will test and assess the efficacy of the client's antiviral candidate in a cohort of healthy young adult volunteers. This contract builds on Open Orphan's existing relationship with this European biotech, following previous early clinical work completed by the Venn Breda team, highlighting the Company's ability to maintain relationships with its clients over time and to cross sell services between brands. The Company expects the revenues from the contract to be recognised across 2022 and 2023.  

The study will be conducted by hVIVO's highly trained team of medics at its state-of-the-art quarantine facilities in London which was recently expanded in a cost-efficient manner from 43 to 62 beds, an increase of c. 45%. The Company's specialised virology laboratories, hLAB, will provide qPCR (quantitative polymerase chain reaction), infectivity and serology data for the study.

Open Orphan plc

Open Orphan plc (London and Euronext: ORPH) is a rapidly growing contract research company that is a world leader in testing infectious and respiratory disease products 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 and its state-of-the-art 24-bedroom QMB clinic with its highly specialised on-site virology and immunology laboratory. The Company has a leading portfolio of human challenge study models for infectious and respiratory diseases and is developing a number of new models. There has been an explosion in the growth of the infectious disease market, which is estimated to grow to in excess of $250bn by 2025. The Group is focused on refreshing its existing challenge models and develop new models, such as Malaria, to address the dramatic growth potential of the global infectious disease market.

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.

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.