Poolbeg-led consortium awarded EUR 2.3m grant

Poolbeg Pharma

15/11/2022 10:36

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RNS Number : 4624G  Poolbeg Pharma PLC  15 November 2022

Poolbeg Pharma plc

 

Poolbeg-led consortium awarded €2.3m 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 (http://www.poolbegpharma.com/) (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 €2.3m
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
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/poolbeg_pharma/news/rns/story/xqo7yqr)
. 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                                  +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

 Instinctif Partners                                 +44 (0) 20 7457 2020

 Melanie Toyne Sewell, Rozi Morris, Tim Field        poolbeg@instinctif.com (mailto:poolbeg@instinctif.com)

 

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
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/poolbeg_pharma/news/rns/story/x87koow)
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 €500 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 (http://www.hvivo.com/)  (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
(http://www.poolbegpharma.com/)  or follow us on Twitter
(https://twitter.com/PoolbegPharma)  and LinkedIn
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/poolbeg-pharma/)  @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 (http://www.anabio.ie) or email
aidan.fitzsimons@anabio.ie (mailto: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 (https://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
(https://poolbegpharmacom.sharepoint.com/sites/PoolbegPharma/Shared%20Documents/Poolbeg%20Pharma/2.%20Investor%20Relations/2.%20RNS/2022/10.%20Oct%20-%20DTIF/www.tcd.ie)

 

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