The infectious disease pharmaceutical company Poolbeg Pharma (POLB) has agreed to develop an oral vaccine delivery platform with the health technologies of the firm AnaBio.
Poolbeg, a spin-out of London-listed Open Orphan, has signed a binding term sheet with AnaBio, a specialist microencapsulation, which will allow the Company to gain exclusive access to the company’s technologies, IP and expertise for oral vaccine applications.
By utilising AnaBio’s microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation technologies in conjunction with its own expertise in infectious diseases, vaccine development and its associated technologies, Poolbeg Pharma intends to develop an oral vaccine delivery platform.
The Company explained that it will also conduct an investigation using its proprietary Vaccine Discovery Platform in conjunction with this jointly developed oral vaccine delivery platform.
Poolbeg acknowledged within its statement that oral vaccines for diseases such as polio have been used successfully for decades by delivering antigens to specific areas of the gut with the objective of stimulating 'mucosal immunity', which prevents pathogens infecting the body.
Addressing its shareholders, the Company highlighted that, ‘‘Oral vaccines offer an efficient method of administration, reducing significant challenges for distribution and administration addressing the gaps in supplying the global community as well as addressing needle-phobia.’
Microencapsulation is a process which results in prolonged absorption profiles after drugs are delivered to the gut. It can help to ensure the right dose of a product is absorbed by the body.
Poolbeg said preliminary data has shown that AnaBio's platform may be combined with dual nanotechnology to create a two-step delivery process with enhanced uptake to specific cells.
It said this technology platform can be used to encapsulate a wide range of drugs including molecules such as proteins, peptides, DNA and RNA and that as a result of the pandemic, mRNA vaccines have been one of the standout success stories in the fight against COVID-19.
Poolbeg’s CEO Dr Jeremy Skillington said: "As we have seen in the COVID-19 pandemic, the success of global vaccination drives is dependent on the effective uptake of vaccines. Oral vaccines are highly attractive due to their improved stability profiles, ease of administration, generation of mucosal immunity and being preferable to needle-phobic patients.”
"The pharma sector is increasingly recognising that oral vaccines can act as standalone regimens or as boosters to injected vaccines which can struggle to generate mucosal immunity. By working with the experts at AnaBio and accessing its advanced micro and nano encapsulation technology, this places Poolbeg in a prime position to develop products for the oral vaccine market with vaccines for enteric (gut) and respiratory pathogens,” he added.
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