hVIVO PLC (AIM:HVO) chief executive Yamin 'Mo' Khan joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share significant news about the company's latest developments. hVIVO has signed a £2.5 million contract with a mid-sized pharmaceutical company to initiate an Omicron characterisation study. The manufacturing of hVIVO’s Omicron BA.5 challenge agent was successfully completed in 2023.
Khan explained that the study aims to identify a dose of hVIVO’s Omicron BA.5 challenge agent that can establish a safe, measurable, and reproducible disease in healthy volunteers aged 18-30. The goal is to achieve sufficiently high infection rates to use this model for testing the efficacy of antivirals and vaccines in the future.
The study is expected to commence in Q4 2024, with the majority of revenue recognised in 2025. It will be conducted at the company’s new CL3 quarantine facility at Canary Wharf. This state-of-the-art facility has been specifically designed to meet the highest hospital isolation suite standards suitable for CL3 pathogens. It is equipped with advanced safety features, including physical containment barriers, controlled ventilation systems with negative pressure and HEPA filtration, and comprehensive waste management protocols.
This will be the first COVID-related human challenge study that hVIVO will undertake since the contract announcement in June 2022. The study represents a significant step forward in understanding and combating the Omicron variant of the virus, contributing valuable data for the development of effective treatments and vaccines.
Khan highlighted the importance of this contract for hVIVO, emphasising the company's leading role in the field of human challenge studies. The successful completion of this study will not only advance scientific knowledge but also reinforce hVIVO’s reputation as a pioneer in the development of innovative solutions for infectious diseases.
