ValiRx PLC (AIM:VAL) shares jumped higher in early trade on Wednesday after the company announced the incorporation of Inaphaea BioLabs Limited, a new wholly-owned subsidiary which will be the cornerstone of ValiRx's translational Contract Research Organisation (tCRO).
Inaphaea will be headquartered in the company's laboratory in MediCity, Nottingham, and will offer a wide range of pre-clinical and drug discovery testing services to academic, biotech and pharmaceutical researchers, forming the foundational module of the company's tCRO. A significant portion of the testing for ValiRx's evaluation pipeline, currently outsourced to external CROs, will be transferred into Inaphaea.
Inaphaea will have the capability to conduct in vitro and ex vivo testing for all in-house pipeline and evaluation projects as well as to offer services to external users.
The laboratory is targeted to be fully operational within Q2 2023, with initial services focusing on cancer cell activity; allowing the study of drug candidates in a range of cell lines to elucidate activity, toxicity and mechanism of action of test molecules. In due course, Inaphaea intends to build on the company's expertise in specific tests that support the development of treatments in women's health.
A highly experienced laboratory leadership team has been appointed, with Dr Dominic Lowen as senior scientist and Melissa Barr as lead scientist. The operational team will continue to grow as activity increases.
In recognition of the company's commitment to seek near-term income, Inaphaea has recruited Dr Andrew Carnegie as head of strategic commercial development to lead the growth strategy and secure new third party business. Dr Carnegie will also ensure the tCRO provides testing services that help to achieve improved translation of drug candidates that have the greatest relevance to prospective customers.
In a statement, Dr Suzy Dilly, ValiRx CEO, commented: "After a great deal of hard work by the entire ValiRx team, I am pleased to share this news about the formation of Inaphaea; the first step of our longer-term ambition to create the unique tCRO service offering for early stage drug development. Over the next few weeks, we intend to transfer our own projects into the Inaphaea lab to continue their progress.
"I'm also delighted that after a year of supporting us through our Commercial Advisory Board, Andrew has agreed to join the team of Inaphaea in this full-time position to support the initiation of services."
Dr Carnegie added: "I'm really excited to have the opportunity to play a major role in launching and growing a much-needed service in translational research. After working for many years in commercial development in the biotech industry, I have a good appreciation of the challenges for drug developers and fully support the ambition of Inaphaea to address a clear gap in the market."
Around 9.00am, ValiRx shares were trading 6.7% higher at 12.00p.