Open Orphan plc announced that hVIVO, a subsidiary of Open Orphan, has signed a substantial contract with an existing top 5 global pharmaceutical client to manufacture a virus for use in human challenge studies. Virus manufacturing activities have commenced and are expected to be completed by end of Third Quarter 2022. The Company is optimistic that a characterisation study and a substantial human challenge study would follow the completion of the GMP-compliant manufacturing process.

The aim of a characterisation study is to establish the right dose of the virus that causes a safe and reliable infection in healthy volunteers. The revenue for the manufacturing process will be recognised in 2022. The manufacture of new challenge viruses ensures that hVIVO has contemporary challenge agents available to meet the needs of the global pharmaceutical industry as they continue to fight the battle against infectious disease.

Furthermore, this ensures the Company continues to enhance and expand its offering of human challenge studies, especially among infectious diseases where variants continually emerge and are often poorly understood.