TIDMPOLB
RNS Number : 4624G
Poolbeg Pharma PLC
15 November 2022
Poolbeg Pharma plc
Poolbeg-led consortium awarded EUR2.3m in non-dilutive funding
to progress Oral Vaccine Platform
Transformative oral vaccine platform funded by the Disruptive
Technologies Innovation Fund
15 November 2022 - Poolbeg Pharma (AIM: POLB, OTCQB: POLBF,
'Poolbeg' or the 'Company'), a clinical stage infectious disease
pharmaceutical company with a unique capital light clinical model,
announces that 'EncOVac', a consortium led by Poolbeg Pharma, has
been awarded EUR2.3m in non-dilutive grant funding to progress its
Oral Vaccine Platform under the Irish Government's Disruptive
Technologies Innovation Fund ('DTIF').
Taking place over three years, the collaboration between Poolbeg
Pharma, University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin and
AnaBio Technologies will result in the development of an oral
vaccine candidate to a Phase I ready state. The resulting
technology will serve as a platform for additional oral vaccine
candidates for a wide range of pathogens, initially targeting
bacterial infections. Poolbeg is proud to play a role in the
development of the next generation of vaccine technologies that can
protect the world from infectious diseases.
Poolbeg licensed AnaBio's microencapsulation and
nanoencapsulation technologies for use in the development and
commercialisation of oral vaccines in January 2022 . By delivering
vaccines to the gut, oral vaccines can trigger 'mucosal immunity'
that results in a protective response in the areas of the body
where a pathogen would be inhaled or ingested such as the nose and
digestive tracts. In comparison to intramuscular injections which
generate systemic immunity, this approach prevents infections from
taking hold in the body by counteracting them at the point of
entry. This has the effect of both reducing transmission and
preventing serious disease. Oral vaccines also offer an efficient
method of administration and significantly reduce challenges for
distribution, addressing the gaps in supplying the global community
as well as needle-phobia which factors in vaccine hesitancy.
Jeremy Skillington, PhD, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma said: "We are
grateful for the support of the Irish Government in awarding this
funding and delighted to be working with our consortium of
high-quality partners in University College Dublin, Trinity College
Dublin and AnaBio. The funding will support the progression of this
exciting oral vaccine platform that has the potential to improve
the ways vaccines are manufactured, distributed and administered
for the future. Poolbeg continues to target non-dilutive funding
opportunities and we are delighted that this DTIF award is our
first success."
Prof Siobhán McClean, Associate Professor at University College
Dublin ("UCD") said: "I am pleased to work with the other members
of this consortium to bring the antigens my team have identified
and developed, closer to the clinic so that together, we can
protect people from infectious diseases."
Prof Ed Lavelle, Professor of Immunology at Trinity College
Dublin ("TCD") said: "The pharmaceutical industry has long aspired
to develop subunit oral vaccines and I believe we have assembled a
consortium of experts and ground-breaking technologies that are
uniquely placed to make them a reality."
Dr Sinéad Bleiel, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer of
AnaBio Technologies said: "Having demonstrated the potential of our
encapsulation technology to deliver drug products safely and
effectively to the gut, we are excited to collaborate with the
EncOVac team of world class researchers, led by Poolbeg and
supported by the Irish Government as part of the world's renewed
fight against infectious diseases."
Prof Luke O'Neill, Non-Executive Director, Scientific Advisory
Board and Project Advisory Board Chair said: "Oral vaccines are
currently only available to treat a small number of pathogens and a
more comprehensive approach to vaccine development is needed to
design new, safe, and effective oral vaccines. Such a system would
revolutionise our approach to protecting people from infectious
diseases, unleashing their full potential."
- Ends -
Enquiries
Poolbeg Pharma Plc
Jeremy Skillington, CEO
Ian O'Connell, CFO +44 (0) 207 183 1499
finnCap Ltd (Nominated Adviser & Joint
Broker)
Geoff Nash, Charlie Beeson
Nigel Birks, Harriet Ward (ECM) +44 (0) 207 220 0500
Singer Capital Markets (Joint Broker)
Phil Davies, Sam Butcher +44 (0) 207 496 3000
J&E Davy (Joint Broker)
Anthony Farrell, Niall Gilchrist +353 (0) 1 679 6363
Instinctif Partners +44 (0) 20 7457 2020
Melanie Toyne Sewell, Rozi Morris, Tim poolbeg@instinctif.com
Field
Notes to Editors
About EncOVac
Leveraging the pioneering work of Assoc. Professor Siobhán
McClean in University College Dublin ("UCD"), the Consortium will
use vaccine candidates identified in her lab as the basis for an
oral vaccine that is generated through a highly specialized
encapsulation process developed by Dr. Sinéad Bleiel of Anabio
Technologies. Working with Ed Lavelle, vaccine adjuvant expert and
a mucosal immunologist in Trinity College Dublin ("TCD"), the
consortium will develop a vaccine candidate through pre-clinical
testing to a Phase I ready state. Poolbeg has previously announced
an exclusive license with Anabio for the use of their technology in
vaccine delivery and has successfully in-licensed one vaccine
candidate from UCD and continues to evaluate five other potential
vaccine candidates developed by Associate Professor Siobhán McClean
and her team.
About Oral Vaccines
By delivering vaccines to the gut, this approach can trigger
'mucosal immunity' that results in a protective response in the
areas of the body where a pathogen would be inhaled or ingested
such as the nose and digestive tracts. In comparison to
intramuscular injections which generate systemic immunity, this
approach prevents infections from taking hold in the body by
counteracting them at the point of entry. This has the effect of
both reducing transmission and preventing serious disease. Oral
vaccines also offer an efficient method of administration and
significantly reduce challenges for distribution, addressing the
gaps in supplying the global community as well as needle-phobia
which factors in vaccine hesitancy.
A recent World Health Organisation Report ("WHO") estimated that
the global market value for vaccines was approximately $33b in
2019, before the substantial investment arising from the pandemic.
The development of an oral vaccine platform that could replace some
injectable vaccines would serve to improve vaccination rates,
address critical inequalities in distribution and help to create a
healthier world.
About the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund
The Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) is a EUR500
million fund established under the National Development Plan (NDP)
in 2018. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment manages
the DTIF with administrative support from Enterprise Ireland. The
purpose of the Fund is to drive collaboration between Ireland's
world-class research base and industry as well as facilitating
enterprises to compete directly for funding in support of the
development and adoption of these technologies. The aim is to
support investment in the development and deployment of disruptive
technologies and applications on a commercial basis.
About Poolbeg Pharma
Poolbeg Pharma is a clinical stage infectious disease
pharmaceutical company, with a unique capital light clinical model
which aims to develop multiple products faster and more cost
effectively than the conventional biotech model. The Company,
headquartered in London, is led by a team with a track record of
creation and delivery of shareholder value and aspires to become a
"one-stop shop" for pharma and biotech seeking mid-stage products
to license or acquire.
The Company is targeting the growing infectious disease market.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, infectious disease has become
one of the fastest growing pharma markets and is expected to exceed
$250bn by 2025.
With its initial assets from hVIVO plc (formerly named Open
Orphan plc) , an industry leading infectious disease and human
challenge trials business, Poolbeg has access to knowledge,
experience, and clinical data from over 20 years of human challenge
trials. The Company is using these insights to acquire new assets
as well as reposition clinical stage products, reducing spend and
risk. Amongst its portfolio of exciting assets, Poolbeg has a small
molecule immunomodulator for severe influenza (POLB 001) which has
commenced its LPS human challenge trial with initial results
expected by year end 2022; a first-in-class, intranasally
administered RNA-based immunotherapy for respiratory virus
infections (POLB 002); and a vaccine candidate for Melioidosis
(POLB 003). The Company is also developing an oral vaccine delivery
platform and is progressing two artificial intelligence (AI)
programmes to accelerate the power of its human challenge model
data and biobank, with results from the first programme expected by
year end 2022.
Poolbeg's role in the project will be to prepare the vaccine
candidate for clinical approval, including the preparation of
pre-clinical toxicology work and the preparation of a regulatory
dossiers for submission to the relevant authorities prior to the
initiation of clinical trials. In addition to these activities, as
the consortium-lead, Poolbeg will be responsible for project
management, intellectual property protection and the coordination
of publicity
For more information, please go to www.poolbegpharma.com or
follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn @PoolbegPharma.
About AnaBio Technologies
AnaBio Technologies is a specialist microencapsulation company,
focused on improving health and performance through
micro-encapsulation of sensitive bioactive ingredients for food,
beverage and pharmaceutical applications. Founded in 2011 by Dr
Sinead Bleiel, and based in Carrigtwohill Co Cork, AnaBio has
developed into a global leader in the field of micro encapsulation
with 15 patent families and clients across N America, Asia, and
EU.
Bioactives and APIs clearly bestow health benefits, but are
vulnerable to being inactivated by environmental stresses
encountered during processing, storage and digestion. This can
result in limited quantities of intact active bioactives reaching
the site of action in the body, and no health benefit.
Microencapsulation represents a sophisticated delivery system
designed to overcome this problem. A protective coat is created at
microscopic level around the bioactive or API which protects the
ingredient from a wide range of environmental conditions, enables
its release at the appropriate site within the body, and thereby
ensures that the potential health benefits of the bioactive are
fully realised. AnaBio Technologies offers its clients a range of
services including contract research to develop bespoke
microencapsulation solutions, commercial scale manufacture and
supply of microencapsulated ingredients and licensing of its
patented microencapsulated technology.
As part of the project, Anabio will be responsible for the
encapsulation of the vaccine antigen and adjuvant combination. This
will protect vaccine antigens from the degradative environment of
the digestive tract and deliver vaccine constituents via a
triggered release of microcapsule dissolution at a specific pH,
which is characteristic to the location of the intestine where
antigen uptake is targeted.
For further information, visit www.anabio.ie or email
aidan.fitzsimons@anabio.ie .
About University College Dublin ("UCD")
UCD is Ireland's largest and most diverse university and one of
Europe's leading research-intensive universities. Since 1854 UCD
has made a unique contribution to the creation of modern Ireland,
based on successful engagement with Irish society on every level
and across every sphere of activity. As Ireland's leading
university in innovation, knowledge transfer and commercialisation,
UCD's commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship recognises the
importance of active participation and collaboration to exploit
leading-edge research and development outputs. As set-out in Rising
to the Future 2020-2024 UCD's four strategic themes are; creating a
sustainable global society, transforming through digital
technology, building a healthy world, and empowering humanity.
To further expand the diseases the oral vaccine platform can
target, the team in UCD will characterise and prioritise additional
vaccines candidates using the proteomic platform technology
previously developed by the McClean lab. Once a preferred candidate
is identified, its efficacy following encapsulation will be
assessed in an animal challenge model.
For further information, visit www.ucd.ie
About Trinity College Dublin ("TCD")
Trinity College Dublin, founded in 1592, is Ireland's oldest
university. Today it has a vibrant community of over 20,000
students and is recognised internationally as Ireland's premier
university, currently 98th in the QS University World Rankings.
Cutting edge research, technology and innovation places the
university at the forefront of higher education in Ireland and
globally. It encompasses all major academic disciplines, and is
committed to world-class teaching and research across a range of
disciplines in the arts, humanities, engineering, science, social
and health sciences. Trinity is Europe's leading university for
graduate entrepreneurship and has placed innovation and
entrepreneurship at the heart of its strategy - from the
development of plans for a new innovation campus at Grand Canal
Quay, to the establishment of the University Bridge I and
University Bridge Fund II.
The selection of an adjuvant that can help to stimulate robust
mucosal immune responses for oral delivery will be a key task for
the Lavelle lab during the course of the project. In the later
stages of the project, the Lavelle lab will be responsible for the
generation of data required for the filing of regulatory dossiers
to proceed with clinical trials.
For further information, visit www.tcd.ie
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