Aptamer Group plc announced that it has entered into a material agreement with a biotechnology company developing genetic medicines. Under the terms of the agreement, Aptamer Group will use its proprietary platform to discover Optimer binders to enable the specific targeting ofgeneticmedicines to specific cell types. Aptamer Group will receive up to £553,000 in development fees for discovering and developing the Optimer binders.

Work is expected to commence shortly subject to receiving target materials from the customer and is expected to be completed within the current financial year. Optimer binders are a novel class of molecules for selectively targeting new biomarkers and tissues. Optimers are fully synthetic oligonucleotide molecules that offer a controlled development process, delivering high affinity and highly selective binders, which makes them attractive candidate molecules for drug delivery.

The smaller size of Optimers allows for improved tissue penetration, enabling effective therapeutic delivery, while the ability to control Optimer conjugation to therapeutic payloads allows precision in therapeutic development and dosing of payloads.