REG - Aptamer Group PLC - New Contracts Announcement for Optimer Development

AptamerAnnouncement

24/06/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 4897T  Aptamer Group PLC  24 June 2024

     24 June 2024

 

Aptamer Group plc

("Aptamer", the "Company" or the "Group")

Aptamer Group Announces New Contracts Worth £235,000 for Optimer Development

-    Contract with top five pharma partner for IHC reagents

-   Contract to develop Optimer for life science kits with royalty-bearing
licence upon commercialisation

 

Aptamer Group plc (AIM: APTA), the developer of novel Optimer(®) binders to
enable innovation in the life sciences industry, is pleased to announce the
signing of two significant contracts for the development of Optimer binders,
with a combined total value of up to £235,000.

 

The first contract, valued at up to £175,000, is with a top five
pharmaceutical company. As part of this contract, Aptamer will develop Optimer
binders for use in immunohistochemistry (IHC) applications. There is potential
for the Optimer binders to utilise the Company's recently patented Optimer-Fc
platform to deliver advanced IHC reagents for improved performance and use in
automated IHC workflows. Following development, the binders could be
integrated into companion diagnostics or as critical reagents to support the
top five partner's drug development pipeline, resulting in downstream
royalties and/or licencing revenues for Aptamer. This agreement represents the
sixth contract with this pharmaceutical partner for Optimer development across
multiple applications, highlighting its confidence in the Optimer platform.

 

The second contract, valued at up to £60,000, is with a global provider of
specialty enzymes used widely throughout the life sciences sector, in a $9.9bn
market, growing at 8.6% CAGR. Aptamer will develop Optimer binders as novel
reagents to be incorporated into the partner's life science and diagnostic
assay kits. Through a non-exclusive licence for the developed Optimer, Aptamer
Group will earn milestone payments upon successful commercialisation and
downstream high single digit royalties from the gross sales of all kits
containing the developed Optimer. Sales could commence as early as 2025.

 

Dr Arron Tolley, Chief Technical Officer of Aptamer Group, said: "The repeat
business from another of our top-five pharma partner validates the power of
the Optimer platform to solve intractable problems associated with traditional
ligands like antibodies in the area of immunohistochemistry (IHC) and supports
our new business and patenting strategy. These smaller royalty bearing
agreements to develop Optimer binders aligns with our business model to
develop a diversified pipeline of technologies to deliver licence agreements
across the life science sector. Unfortunately, due to confidentiality we
cannot disclose the name of the partner or any other terms of the deal.

 

Over the past year, the new management team has successfully rebuilt the sales
pipeline, and refocused the business to its pre-IPO model which continues to
convert to signed deals - with opportunities to generate passive income
through licensing and royalty-based deals. I look forward to updating the
market on continuing commercial progress and on the continued development of
our key assets in delivery vehicles for the Liver Fibrosis, binders for
cosmetic applications with Unilever and our ongoing partnership with Neuro-Bio
developing a diagnostic for Alzheimer's."

 

- ENDS -

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 Aptamer Group plc                                            +44 (0) 1904 217 404

 Steve Hull
 SPARK Advisory Partners Limited - Nominated Adviser          +44 (0) 20 3368 3550

 Andrew Emmott / Adam Dawes
 Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Limited - Broker               +44 (0) 20 3657 0050

 James Pope / Andrew Thacker

 

About Aptamer Group plc

Aptamer Group develops custom affinity binders through its proprietary
Optimer(®) platform to enable new approaches in therapeutics, diagnostics,
and research applications. The Company strives to deliver transformational
solutions that meet the needs of life science researchers and developers.

Optimer binders are oligonucleotide affinity ligands that can function as an
antibody alternative. The global affinity ligand market is currently worth
over $170 billion.

Aptamer has successfully delivered projects for a range of global pharma
companies, diagnostic development companies, and research institutes, covering
multiple application areas with the objective of establishing royalty-bearing
licenses.

 

 

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