aptamer group plc said thursday that it has secured a number of new contract wins with the potential for future downstream royalties and milestone payments the uk biotechnology company said its aptamer therapeutics business has entered the second phase in its collaboration with cancer research uk to develop the delivery vehicle of its optimer binder treatment for chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia and other myeloid malignancies it has also signed an early stage deal to develop optimer as a potential therapy to prevent transplant rejection the aptamer solutions business has made significant progress with numerous new projects under way and a number of deals signed to develop optimer solutions for assays where antibodies arent meeting requirements aptamer said aptamer is working with a biomarker services company to develop optimer binders to support assays for mass spectrometry analysis and it has signed a deal with respiratory diseases vaccine developer novavax inc for the use of optimers our healthy deal pipeline demonstrates the clear market opportunity and demand for optimers and im encouraged that we will continue on our growth trajectory for the financial year chief executive arron tolley said