LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Rare and orphan drug consulting services provider Open Orphan announced the signing of a contract with Carna Bioscience for a first-in-human clinical pharmacology trial, it announced on Monday.
The AIM-traded firm said the contract was expected to deliver "significant" revenue for the company over the next 12 months.

It described Carna as a Japan-based company specialising in kinase biology, developing innovative treatments against cancer and immune disorders.

This contract would see Venn Life Sciences, part of Open Orphan, providing Carna with a range of expertise from chemistry manufacturing and controls to clinical trial management, as well as biometry, legal and regulatory support.

The new contract built upon several years of existing work between Venn and Carna, Open Orphan explained, during which both parties closely collaborated on drug development planning and pre-clinical activities services contracts.

It described the deal as further evidence of its strategy to secure long-term partnership contracts, which would deliver recurring revenues for the business by working in close collaboration with "high quality" customers.

"This contract is further evidence of delivering against one of Open Orphan's key objectives, transforming Venn," said chief executive officer Cathal Friel.

"The contract is an exciting one as we are now providing a much broader range of pharmaceutical services and the Venn team have managed to transition the provision of its initial pre-clinical consultancy services to Carna into a formal phase 1 clinical trial.

"We look forward to delivering the contract for Carna Bioscience and I look forward to announcing more positive news in due course."

At 0918 GMT, shares in Open Orphan were up 3.81% at 6.54p.

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