Aptamer Group Share News (APTA)

(Sharecast News) - Aptamer Group announced on Tuesday that it has signed a new contract worth up to £0.62m with a top five global pharmaceutical company, marking the third collaboration between the two and further validating its 'Optimer' synthetic binder technology.

The AIM-traded biotech said the agreement would see it develop Optimer binders against three key drug targets and support the development of ELISA assays to aid the partner's therapeutic programmes.

It said the tools could also be used to analyse patient samples in clinical trials and could support future diagnostic applications.

Aptamer said it retains full intellectual property rights to all binders developed under the contract, giving the company potential for future licensing revenues should the Optimers be adopted in commercial applications.

"This contract represents significant commercial validation and increasing traction of our Optimer® technology platform," said chief executive Dr Arron Tolley.

"The decision by a top five pharmaceutical partner to commission this large-scale, multi-target programme follows the successful completion of a proof-of-concept project where we demonstrated the superior performance of our Optimers compared to traditional antibodies and our ability to successfully deliver binders, to support our customers with their critical projects."

He added that it meant the group had now signed contract value of £1.75m for the current financial year, with eight months of the still remaining.

"As such, we are well-positioned to build on last year's performance and deliver sustained revenue growth.

"We continue to build a robust foundation of repeat business with leading pharmaceutical partners, converting our commercial pipeline into long-term value for shareholders."

Aptamer said total signed contract value for the current financial year now stood at £1.75m, a 46% increase on the £1.2m reported at the same stage last year, reflecting strong early pipeline conversion and growing demand for its Optimer platform across the life sciences sector.

At 1601 GMT, shares in Aptamer Group were up 5% at 0.84p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.