Poolbeg identifies novel RSV drug candidates

Poolbeg Pharma

21/12/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 3928K  Poolbeg Pharma PLC  21 December 2022

Poolbeg Pharma plc

 

Poolbeg identifies new potential drug candidates for Respiratory Syncytial
Virus infections as part of Artificial Intelligence Programme

 

Collaboration with OneThree Biotech identifies novel RSV treatments

First time RSV drug candidates identified using AI

Candidates with existing Phase I clinical data packages prioritised to reduce
risk

 

Poolbeg Pharma
(https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.poolbegpharma.com%2F&data=05%7C01%7CCarol.Dalton%40poolbegpharma.com%7Cff25a2964da5486503be08dad7df228e%7C3d00da7edd9841608844c86c632311aa%7C1%7C0%7C638059650609179274%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=gvbEQ1lg%2Fe8QzsysOLuiRyJdxaiMK%2BXEiSwaJvVji3Q%3D&reserved=0)
(AIM: POLB, OTCQB: POLBF, 'Poolbeg' or the 'Company'), a leading infectious
disease focused biopharmaceutical company, announces that it has successfully
identified potential new drug candidates from its Respiratory Syncytial Virus
('RSV') artificial intelligence ('AI') Programme with OneThree Biotech, Inc.
(https://onethree.bio/)

 

Since initiating the collaboration in February 2022
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/poolbeg_pharma/news/rns/story/xqo332r)
, Poolbeg's scientific team has worked closely with OneThree to build a
tailored AI approach that leverages Poolbeg's unique RSV human challenge trial
data in order to identify disease-relevant biological pathways and potential
drug targets. Based on those newly discovered drug targets
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/poolbeg_pharma/news/rns/story/x5gn89w)
, the collaboration has now identified a number of promising drug candidates
to rapidly bring forward to lab-based validation to determine the full
potential of these assets.

 

The Company has prioritised compounds with existing Phase I clinical data and
which could, if successfully validated, be repositioned as novel treatments
for RSV infection. Candidates with solid safety and pharmacodynamic data in
humans are well positioned to rapidly enter a clinical trial to generate early
human efficacy data for RSV. This is in line with Poolbeg's efficient, capital
light clinical development strategy that is at the core of its ambitious
growth model.

 

RSV, which inflames the smallest airways of the lungs, usually sends an
average of 58,000-80,000 children under the age of 5 to hospital each year in
the US alone, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). RSV can also be dangerous for adults over the age of 65, resulting in
around 177,000 hospitalisations per year in the United States alone. The
current cold and flu season commenced about two months earlier than
anticipated and already rivals some of the worst seasons on record with RSV
hospitalising young children in the United States and Europe at an alarming
rate. Public health officials have been warning for weeks that a "tripledemic"
of SARS-CoV-2, influenza and RSV would strain an already weary healthcare
system. RSV has made so many young children ill this fall that weekly
paediatric hospitalisations in the US are the highest recorded.

 

Jeremy Skillington, PhD, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma said: "In the past few months,
RSV has been sending children to hospital at alarming rates in the United
States and Europe. As paediatric units fill beyond capacity, and our
healthcare systems contend with a 'tripledemic' of RSV, influenza and
SARS-CoV-2, the need for better treatments has never been so urgent.

 

We're impressed with the quality of work executed so far with OneThree
leveraging their AI expertise to present new drug potential candidates from
our unique human challenge trial data which Poolbeg will now optimise for
further development in RSV, the only one of the three main respiratory
illnesses for which there are not yet any approved vaccines and where
treatment options are limited."

---

Neel S. Madhukar, PhD, co-founder and CEO of OneThree Biotech, said: "We are
very pleased to be working with Poolbeg and to have the opportunity to deploy
the ATLANTIS platform to complete the first ever AI-driven analysis of RSV
disease progression data. I am delighted that Poolbeg's unique dataset
combined with OneThree's externally validated platform have now delivered new
actionable insights surrounding disease biology and drug discovery that can
bring much needed treatment options for both the young and the elderly; the
most vulnerable to RSV infection."

 

-Ends-

Enquiries

 Poolbeg Pharma Plc                                                +44 (0) 207 183 1499

 Jeremy Skillington, CEO

 Ian O'Connell, CFO

 finnCap Ltd (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)                    +44 (0) 207 220 0500

 Geoff Nash, Charlie Beeson, Nigel Birks, Harriet Ward (ECM)

 Singer Capital Markets (Joint Broker)                              +44 (0) 207 496 3000

 Phil Davies, Sam Butcher

 J&E Davy (Joint Broker)                                           +353 (0) 1 679 6363

 Anthony Farrell, Niall Gilchrist

 Optimum Strategic Communications                                  +44 (0) 208 078 4357

 Mary Clark, Nick Bastin, Manel Mateus, Vici Rabbetts              poolbeg@optimumcomms.com (mailto:poolbeg@optimumcomms.com)

 

About Poolbeg Pharma

 

Poolbeg Pharma specialises in the development of innovative medicines to
address the unmet need in prevalent and emerging infectious diseases. Poolbeg
has a disciplined portfolio approach to mitigate risk, accelerate drug
development and enhance investor returns. The Company simultaneously advances
multiple programmes in cost-effective clinical trials, rapidly generating
early human safety and efficacy data to enable early partnering /
out-licensing, with the funds generated reinvested in the pipeline. Poolbeg
also uses AI to interrogate human challenge trial data sets to quickly
identify new targets and drugs, and in-license near or in the clinic
medicines, leading to faster development and greater commercial appeal.

 

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 (http://www.hvivo.com)
 (formerly 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 completed its LPS human challenge trial with full data
read-out expected in Q2 2023; 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
two Oral Delivery Programmes and is progressing
two Artificial Intelligence (AI) Programmes to add promising new assets to
its pipeline.

 

For more information, please go to www.poolbegpharma.com
(http://www.poolbegpharma.com/)  or follow us on Twitter
(https://twitter.com/PoolbegPharma)  and LinkedIn
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/poolbeg-pharma/)  @PoolbegPharma.

 

About OneThree Biotech

 

OneThree Biotech is a private, clinically validated, biology-driven artificial
intelligence (AI) company focused on using its proprietary ATLANTIS AI
platform in combination with systems biology to understand the mechanisms that
drive drug-target-disease relationships. This approach has been used not only
to generate a pipeline of first-in-class programs, but also in partnerships
with other biopharmaceutical companies. OneThree Biotech's proven technology
platform integrates chemical, biological, and clinical data with cutting-edge
computational tools to answer complex questions surrounding disease biology
and drug discovery. The company's AI platform has shown success in identifying
new targets for the treatment of various cancers and optimizing early-stage
drug discovery and development by quickly and accurately generating new,
testable insights and hypotheses. The OneThree platform has been validated
across early-stage drug discovery through multiple partnerships, clinical
trials, and more than 20 peer-reviewed publications. OneThree Biotech is based
in New York City.

 

For more information, please go to https://onethree.bio/
(https://onethree.bio/)

Twitter: @onethreebiotech

 

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