Shares of pharmaceutical firm Open Orphan (LON: ORPH) are climbing on Monday after the company announced that hVIVO has entered into a contract with a biotechnology company to run a human viral challenge study for a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) prophylactic and treatment.
The US biotechnology company is developing a product to prevent and treat acute and chronic respiratory syncytial virus infections.
Open Orphan shares are trading 2.97% higher at 33p, following the news.
hVIVO, a subsidiary of Open Orphan, will conduct the study on behalf of the biotechnology company to demonstrate their lead candidate's efficacy against RSV infection.
The total contract value is £7.5m, and the study is due to commence in Q4 2021, with the majority of revenues being recognised in 2021.
On Thursday, Open Orphan shares rose after the update on its Covid-19 Human Challenge Program.
“This is another substantial and significant contract win for hVIVO and Open Orphan. Through signing these deals, we continue to reinforce our position as the clear world leader in human challenge studies,” said Cathal Friel, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Open Orphan.
“hVIVO is currently the only company worldwide that can facilitate RSV challenge studies and we are in advance negotiations with all the significant RSV vaccine and drug developers globally,” added Friel.
Should you invest in Open Orphan shares?
Open Orphan shares are traded on the London stock exchange's AIM market (the alternative investment market), which is the submarket specifically for smaller companies. AIM stocks are attractive to investors as they have tax advantages and smaller companies have the potential to benefit from rapid growth. But are Open Orphan shares the best buy? Our stock market analysts regularly review the market and share their picks for high growth companies