STOCK WATCH

OPEN Orphan came into its own during the pandemic.

Its subsidiary, Hvivo, owns a facility in London that carries out human challenge studies using new vaccines.

Open Orphan was in the news yesterday after winning a £7.5m contract to evaluate a potential flu jab for an unnamed international biotechnology company. It is one of a series of similar contract wins in recent months.

The shares, down 3.5pc or 0.5p, to 13.75p, have halved in value since the start of 2022.