Animalcare enters collaboration with Dutch firm Orthros

The AIM-traded firm said under the collaboration, it had secured a global exclusive licence from Orthros for two preclinical VHH candidates, initially addressing osteoarthritis in dogs.

Additionally, it was entering into a research and development deal with Orthros Medical with the objective of adding further projects to the licence agreement.

Under the terms of the deal, Animalcare would make upfront payments to Orthros of €0.5m (£0.42m), and would fund some early research activities as part of the collaboration.

As the two licensed candidates progressed, Orthros could receive development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments up to a total of €11m, as well as single-digit royalties on net sales of the products.

The payments were expected to be paid out of the group's operating cash flow.

Animalcare said the licensed candidates would be developed as mono and combination therapy for local application in osteoarthritic joints to enable pain relief and, potentially, disease modification.

The candidate profiles were complementary to ‘Daxocox’, its existing COX-2 inhibitor approved for the treatment of osteoarthritis-related pain in dogs.

“This partnership represents a key building block in our long-term growth strategy,” said chief executive officer Jenny Winter.

“We are keen to expand our early-stage pipeline by seeking out innovative technologies to meet evolving customer needs in a fast-growing, competitive market.

“Working with Orthros Medical, we have an exciting opportunity to build our future pain and osteoarthritis portfolio while exploring further potential of Orthros Medical's VHH technology in animals.”

At 1422 GMT, shares in Animalcare Group were up 0.63% at 337.12p.