Cathal Friel, Chief Executive Officer of Open Orphan (LON:ORPH) Update

 

Preferred Partner Agreement

Cathal Friel, Chief Executive of Open Orphan commented:

"When we completed the reverse takeover of Venn earlier this summer we promised shareholders that one of our key objectives would be to transform Venn into a profitable pharma services company. 

This partnership is the first of many steps to make Venn profitable and deliver a re-rating of the business to be in line with the wider sector. I look forward to announcing more positive news in due course."

Open Orphan, a European-focussed, rare and orphan drug consulting services platform company, is pleased to announce the signing of a preferred partner agreement between Open Orphan and Ipsen Group ("Ipsen").

The agreement selects Venn Life Sciences ("Venn"), which is part of the Open Orphan group, as the preferred partner for Ipsen's Data Management and Biostatistics. The preferred vendor structure will last for a 3-year period. This partnership has already delivered substantial revenues for the Open Orphan group and positions the business as an integrated drug development partner for Biopharma companies in Europe such as Ipsen.

The partnership is part of Open Orphan's strategy to transform Venn Life Sciences and is expected to be one of many long-term partnership contracts which is expected to deliver recurring revenues for the business. Open Orphan's aim is to transform Venn through restructuring the business to reduce operational leverage, increase revenue, improve operating margins and launch additional complementary services.

Notes to Editors on Open Orphan:

Open Orphan plc is a European-focused, rare and orphan drug consulting services platform. The Company intends to roll up a number of pharma services businesses across Europe. Open Orphan has two data driven digital platforms, a Genomic Health Data Platform, which is establishing one of Europe's largest rare disease  genomic database and a Virtual Rep platform enabling pharmaceutical companies to engage key opinion leaders and physicians. The Company is targeting rapid growth in one of the fastest growing sectors in the global pharmaceutical industry targeting under-supplied treatment for life threatening or very serious diseases and rare disorders.

Notes to Editors on Ipsen Group:

Ipsen is a global biopharmaceutical group dedicated to improving lives through innovative medicines in Oncology, Neuroscience and Rare Diseases.  It has a well-established and successful Consumer Healthcare business.  It is also committed to discovering new solutions for targeting debilitating diseases and improving the quality of life for patients.