hVIVO kicks off 2023 with a £5.2m contract to test RSV vaccine candidate
( ) (formerly Open Oprhan), a specialist contract research organisation, has announced a £5.2m contract win with an unnamed Asia Pacific-based global biotech company, to test its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidate using hVIVO's RSV human challenge study model.
The Phase 2a double-blinded human challenge trial will take place at hVIVO's quarantine facilities in London, and will evaluate the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of the client's vaccine candidate against RSV infection.
The study will commence in H2 2023, with revenue to be recognised across 2023 and 2024.
hVIVO also announced it will provide a trading update for FY22 on 25 January 2023.
Yamin 'Mo' Khan, CEO of hVIVO, commented: "I am delighted to have signed this contract with a biotechnology company headquartered in Asia Pacific to test its RSV vaccine candidate, which is our first contract signed in the region in over a decade. APAC has been identified as a key growth region for the Company, and this contract is an encouraging indicator that our strategy there is bearing fruit. I am optimistic that more biopharma companies in the APAC region will increasingly recognise both the value of human challenge trials, and hVIVO's reputation as the 'go-to' partner in the market."
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hVIVO kicks off 2023 with another major human challenge trial to test an RSV candidate, this time with a major biotech client based in the APAC region.
Indeed, this is hVIVO's first Asia Pacific client in over a decade, which is a key region in the company's growth strategy as it seeks to diversify its client base beyond North America and Europe.
More and more pharma and biotech companies are trusting hVIVO's model as they learn about the benefits of human challenge trials. Four of the top ten global biopharma companies are now regular clients of hVIVO.
This growth is being driven by increasing demand for human challenge services in a rapidly expanding infectious and respiratory disease clinical trials market. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a marked increase in the number of companies looking to test vaccines and antivirals against specific subtypes of viruses that have the potential to be widely spread.
Human challenge studies provide great value for biopharma companies as they offer access to fast and cost-effective data that enables easy decisions ahead of larger Phase 2 studies. This gives companies the best possible chance of quickly advancing their candidates through the development pathway.
While RSV has a low chance of causing serious illness in healthy adults, it can be highly detrimental to children and the elderly. RSV has caused particular strain on health care systems in the US and Europe this winter, with reports suggesting newborns are being hospitalised in the US at seven times the rate observed in 2018, hVIVO explained in its statement. This has further heightened global demand for innovative vaccines and antivirals.
hVIVO's FY22 trading update, to be published on 25 January 2023, is expected to confirm a rapidly growing order book and revenues, with momentum remaining strong into 2023 as evidenced by today's announcement and today's £5.2m contract win further strengthens hVIVO's revenue visibility across 2023 and 2024.
hVIVO shares were up 4.70% on the news in early trading.
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