Aptamer Group (AIM:APTA) on Monday told investors it had agreed a cost-sharing research collaboration with Pharmahungary Group to develop Optimer® delivery vehicles targeting heart and skeletal muscle, with each party funding its own side of the work and retaining its own intellectual property.
The AIM-listed developer of synthetic binders will fund development and validation of the targeting system and manufacture Optimer®-conjugates carrying Pharmahungary's microRNA (miRNA) payload, while Pharmahungary funds the preclinical studies, including in vitro assays and in vivo animal studies, to assess targeting, preliminary safety and efficacy.
Aptamer said a comparable preclinical study package would typically cost between £300,000 and £500,000, and that the arrangement will not require unbudgeted expenditure or alter its current cash runway projections.
In return, Aptamer gains access to a package of in vivo animal study data without funding that work itself, retains full ownership of its Optimer® delivery vehicles and associated IP, and will own 50% of the combined Optimer®-miRNA therapeutic developed under the collaboration.
Pharmahungary, founded by Professor Péter Ferdinandy, has more than 25 years of cardiovascular research experience and has completed over 350 preclinical projects for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; it has selected Optimer® technology to deliver its patented cardioprotective miRNAs beyond the liver.
The collaboration adds two new delivery targets, heart muscle and skeletal muscle, to Aptamer's existing work on oligonucleotide delivery beyond the liver, which already spans fibrotic tissue, the kidney and the blood-brain barrier.
"This collaboration represents excellent progress against our post-fundraising goals and is a capital-efficient way to generate the preclinical data packages partners need to evaluate our platform, while retaining full ownership of our Optimer® delivery vehicle," said Arron Tolley, chief executive of Aptamer Group.
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Pharmaceutical partners require animal data before licensing delivery vehicles, and Aptamer said this collaboration aims to generate that data, adding to a growing portfolio of in vivo data packs across multiple tissues.
The company reported cash of £4.4m at its year-end results on 13 October, which it said provides runway into calendar 2028, following gross raises of £2m in July 2025 and £4.5m in April 2026.
On successful completion of the preclinical programme, Aptamer and Pharmahungary intend to jointly pursue licensing discussions with pharmaceutical partners.