Open Orphan gets approval to reduce capital ahead of spin-out

Dublin-listed pharma services company Open Orphan has received court approval for a reduction in capital as part of a process to spin out some of its non-core development intellectual property assets.

The company said earlier this month it believed the assets in question were best developed separately from the core services businesses to maximise shareholder value.

The assets include potential respiratory treatment HVO-001. However, it does not include equity interests in Imutex, in which Open Orphan owns a 49 per cent stake, and PrEP Biopharm Limited, which is developing a potential prophylactic nasal spray that could be used against respiratory viruses such as Covid-19.

"The reduction of capital will allow us to return value to shareholders as we go forward either as a distribution in specie as part of the proposed spin-off or through a share buy back or a payment of a dividend, as appropriate," said executive chairman Cathal Friel.

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“The company and the entire Open Orphan team have made significant progress in the past year and we remain on target with all of our plans as we continue to build the company going forward,” he added.