Poolbeg Pharma signs licence to develop oral vaccine delivery platform
The licence approval follows a binding term sheet announced last month by the company.
Poolbeg, a spin-out of London-listed Open Orphan, outlined that today’s licence provides the company with exclusive access to AnaBio Technologies’ (‘AnaBio’) microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation technologies which it will use to develop and commercialise vaccines.
‘Microencapsulation is a process which involves coating microscopic particles of an API with a protective layer enabling the API to travel safely through the digestive system, and be absorbed across the gut in a bioavailable form,’ said Dr Aidan Fitzsimons, CEO of AnaBio.
He explained to investors that by combining AnaBio’s proven microencapsulation technology together with Poolbeg’s vaccine and immunology expertise puts both companies “in a great position to deliver a genuine breakthrough innovation in oral vaccine development.”
Poolbeg said it intends to use this technology as a platform to complement its pipeline by developing oral vaccines for multiple disease indications. It explained that oral vaccines have been used ‘successfully, but in a limited way’ to prevent diseases such as polio and typhoid.
It said broadening the range of diseases with oral vaccines available is beneficial as they can provide enhanced benefits by delivering antigens to specific areas of the gut, triggering the development of ‘mucosal immunity’ which prevents pathogens from infecting the body.
It added that the pandemic ‘has accelerated demand for innovation in the development of vaccines, and oral vaccines offer many advantages having improved vaccine stability profiles, easier global distribution and administration as well as tackling the issue of needle-phobia.’
Today’s licence is the latest in several licence agreements that Poolbeg has completed since its IPO in July 2021.The Company said its pipeline of assets ‘continues to expand’ and that it is ‘increasing in diversity with the addition of this innovative oral vaccine delivery platform.’
Poolbeg Pharma said this latest licensing agreement follows ‘swiftly’ on the back of a series of other recently announced ‘potentially ground-breaking’ infectious disease asset deals.
Specifically, this includes an exclusive licence for the company’s intranasally administered, RNA-based immunotherapy for respiratory virus infections which it secured earlier this month.
Back in December 2021, the Company announced that it had successfully signed an option agreement to licence an intramuscular Melioidosis vaccine which is also known as POLB 003.
Melioidosis is an infectious disease which carries a very high mortality rate and for which there is currently no approved vaccine. Poolbeg added that concerns are growing around global warming contributing to the spread of the disease to traditionally non-tropical areas.
Poolbeg told investors that these new assets are in addition to Poolbeg’s lead programme, POLB 001, a treatment for severe influenza. It said that ‘post-pandemic the global community recognises the importance of vaccines and treatments against infectious disease and governments are hugely increasing their investment into influenza pandemic preparedness.’
Dr Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma, said: “Vaccine uptake is a critical factor in the effectiveness of combating communicable infectious diseases, something that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown in recent months. Oral vaccines bring significant benefits both in terms of the logistics required to distribute and administer them, but also in how the body responds through creating mucosal immunity in the gut and acting as a barrier to the infection.”
Dr Fitzsimons added: “This is a really exciting opportunity to apply AnaBio’s patented micro-encapsulation technology, which has been shown to facilitate absorption of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API’s) through the gut, in the development of an oral vaccine.”
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