Arecor flags milestone payment from Hikma in first half of next year

Biopharmaceutical company Arecor Therapeutics updated the market on its ongoing exclusive agreement with Hikma Pharmaceuticals to co-develop a new, ready-to-use injectable medicine on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded firm said that under the co-development agreement for ‘AT282’, first announced in January 2020, Arecor was responsible for optimising the novel formulation of the product using its proprietary drug formulation technology platform ‘Arestat’.

It said it was expecting to transfer the final formulation to Hikma in the first half of 2022.

Under the terms of the royalty-based agreement, a milestone payment to Arecor would be triggered on transfer.

That would follow the upfront payment to Arecor in January 2020, following signature of the licence agreement between the parties.

“We are pleased with the progress being made with AT282, the first of two co-development programmes with Hikma,” said chief executive officer Sarah Howell.

“Ready-to-use medicines such as AT282 are becoming increasingly important in the hospital setting and we are proud that our Arestat technology is supporting the development of a medicine that has the potential to provide a safer, more convenient and immediate treatment option for patients.

“We look forward to updating the market on our continued progress with this programme.”

At 0927 GMT, shares in Arecor Therapeutics were down 5.13% at 370p.