Resonance Health Ltd (ASX: RHT) has contracted with two new pharmaceutical customers to provide FerriScan, Cardiac-T2, and related analysis services, for their clinical trials, increasing the number of clinical trials currently contracted and being serviced by Resonance Health to 12.
Each trial is expected to have a duration of 28 months.
Resonance Health’s clinical trial services
Both clinical trials relate to the development of new drugs and/or therapies to address iron-overload disorders.
Resonance Health has approximately 20 years’ experience servicing the iron-overload disease market, most notably through its FerriScan and Cardiac-T2 software-as-medical-devices (SaMDs) which are used globally by clinicians in their management of patients with iron-overload blood disorders. FerriScan is widely regarded as the global gold standard for the analysis of liver-iron-concentration (LIC) and is frequently used by pharmaceutical companies in their clinical trials.
Iron overload disorders
Iron overload disorders affect millions of people globally, most notably in diseases such as thalassaemia, sickle- cell disease (SCD) and hereditary hemochromatosis. It is estimated that over 250 million people globally1 are gene carriers of haemoglobin diseases, with a higher prevalence of the disease in certain developing world nations that collectively comprise the “thalassaemia belt”.
In January 2022, Resonance Health contracted its first Chinese pharmaceutical customer for the development of a new drug to manage thalassaemia in China and globally. Thalassaemia is especially prevalent in China, where 30-40 million people are estimated to be carrying the alpha or beta thalassemia gene.
With the evolution of FerriSmart, the company’s AI-assisted version of FerriScan, the Company is poised to provide its service to larger markets more sensitive to price-point.
Clinical trials contract details
The first clinical trial contract is valued at up to EUR €860K and accounts for most of the combined trial value of EUR €1.0M. This trial has a duration of 28 months and includes recurring monthly imaging project management fees and variable fees that are service provision dependent.
The contract may be terminated by the customer on 60 days’ written notice, including where the customer determines to discontinue the trial. Similarly, the contract may be extended by the customer upon reaching agreeable terms with the company. The customer sponsoring the clinical trial is a European Union (EU) domiciled pharmaceutical company.
The second clinical trial contract is with a US company, and it also has an expected duration of 28 months. The total service fees are comprised of fixed and variable fees, with the variable fees comprising most of the contracted amount. The payment of the full contracted amount is contingent upon the trial continuing for its expected duration of 28 months. The customer can terminate the contract by providing 30 days’ written notice to the company and the customer can also extend the contract upon agreeing additional fees with the company.
About FerriScan
FerriScan provides accurate measurement of LIC through non-invasive MRI-based technology. It is used by clinicians and patients globally in the assessment of iron overload diseases and by pharma companies in their clinical trials.
