Opyl divests subsidiary Opin to focus on development of AI clinical trial platform
Opyl (ASX: OPL) will divest its clinical trial recruitment subsidiary Opin to an entity controlled by global health technology entrepreneur Dr Hugo Stephenson.
Under the terms of the agreement, a nominal $1 cash purchase price will ensure Opyl retains a 20% ownership stake in Opin via its interest in Trial Screen.
As part of the sale, the artificial intelligence (AI) company will transfer all Opin-related intellectual property, key employees, key clients and brand assets to Trial Screen.
Improved metrics
The Opin divestment is expected to significantly improve Opyl’s monthly cash flow and enable greater focus on driving growth of the TrialKey predictive clinical trial analytics and insights platform.
The company will redirect its capital and resources towards the product’s commercialisation and advancement.
TrialKey employs AI and ChatGPT to predict the possibility of success in any clinical trial at any phase and offers insights to optimise trial design and improve outcomes.
The outputs enable more comprehensive discussions with clinical trial designers to re-evaluate proposed, existing and future phase trial designs to validate expected outcomes or design better trials to optimise the likelihood of success.
TrialKey boasts an accuracy rate of over 90%, reportedly the highest in the market to date.
Key industry figure
Opyl engaged Dr Stephenson as a strategic advisor to its board of directors in May 2023, with a focus on accelerating the growth of Opin.
He was appointed as head of Opin two months later, where he played a key role in the divestment transaction.
Dr Stephenson is a medical doctor, biotech services entrepreneur and founder of several businesses including clinical trial payment service provider DrugDev, online medication monitoring service MediGuard, late-phase contract research organisation Health Research Solutions and hospital and medical practice support software company MedSeed.
He has committed to investing approximately $1.2 million into Opin over the next 12 months, underpinned by a comprehensive business plan and the retention of existing jobs within the business’ core team.
Significant investments have also been earmarked for overseas client engagement and US sales and marketing initiatives.