Covid10 Aug 2020 09:56
Redx Pharma PLC (LON:REDX) joined the recent spate of junior biotech success stories with an 80% jump to 45p this week on the back of a licencing deal with AstraZeneca.
The FTSE 100 giant will pay US$17mln to develop Redx’s RXC006 for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, where progressive scarring of the lungs is usually fatal.
If it makes it to market, Redx will receive up to a further US$360mln in milestones plus royalties.
That’s quite an achievement for a junior player that, until Monday, was valued at £48mln and is now worth just shy of £88mln – up over 200% since lockdown started.
The change of fortunes is all the more remarkable given its brief spell in administration three years ago and some struggles in raising funds.
Experts say coronavirus (COVID-19) patients can develop lung fibrosis, so perhaps the pandemic has accelerated the market’s interest in this condition.