TIDMDEST
RNS Number : 9544X
Destiny Pharma PLC
02 May 2023
Destiny Pharma and SporeGen(R) announce update from research
collaboration under Innovate UK grant award to develop a
biotherapeutic treatment (SPOR-COV(R) ) for COVID-19 and
Influenza
Positive results from testing SPOR-COV in several COVID-19 and
influenza research models support potential as prophylactic nasal
spray
Toxicology studies support safety profile
Manufacturing process established
Manufacturing and regional licensing agreement signed with HURO
Biotech JSC for Vietnam
Phase 1 clinical studies completed successfully in Vietnam by
HURO
Retail product based on SPOR--COV technology launched in Vietnam
by HURO
Partners reviewing options for next stage in development of
SPOR-COV
Brighton, United Kingdom - 2nd May 2023 - Destiny Pharma plc
(AIM: DEST), a clinical stage innovative biotechnology company
focused on the development of novel medicines that can prevent
life-threatening infections, today announces very encouraging
results from its collaboration with SporeGen Limited ("SporeGen"),
a UK biotechnology company working exclusively on Bacillus and its
applications. The collaboration has been partly funded by UK
Research and Innovation (UKRI) since September 2020 to co-develop
SporeGen's SPOR-COV product as a novel, preventive treatment for
COVID-19, influenza and potentially other similar respiratory viral
infections.
The study results support the original hypothesis that SPOR-COV
nasal spray can rapidly stimulate an immune response that primes
the human immune system against influenza and coronavirus--type
viral threats such as COVID-19. As a stable, bacterial formulation
presented as a nasal spray, SPOR--COV is straightforward to produce
in bulk, negates the need for a cold chain, has the potential to be
stockpiled for 'pandemic preparedness' and can be used across the
world instead of, or alongside, existing vaccines. Destiny Pharma
and SporeGen are excited by the results of these research studies
and are now planning future studies and seeking partners for the
next stage of development.
Under the UKRI grant award the parties have completed several
research and development studies working with Professor Aras
Kadioglu at the University of Liverpool and contract research
organisations. The data from these studies show:
1. Prophylaxis of COVID-19 observed in SARS -- CoV -- 2 preclinical challenge models.
2. Significant reduction in signs and symptoms of influenza
across multiple preclinical models, including a gold-standard model
of influenza infection in "Vaccines" journal ( James et al ., 2022
). Studies were conducted across several investigative sites.
3. SPOR-COV nasal spray use as a potential adjunct/booster to
existing vaccines is supported by preliminary immunological
research.
4. Technical development programme lead by HURO has been
successful and enabled a scalable manufacturing process for GMP
material.
5. GLP preclinical safety studies successfully completed and
therapeutic window supportive of clinical development defined.
Destiny Pharma and SporeGen are also pleased to have extended
the existing collaboration with HURO , an experienced manufacturer
of bacterial product formulations based in Vietnam and part of the
PAN Group. HURO now have non-exclusive manufacturing rights to
supply future SPOR-COV product and also have exclusive rights to
commercialise SPOR-COV in Vietnam. In return, HURO will develop the
manufacturing process under GMP-WHO standards and is carrying out
other research and development activities in Vietnam, including
human clinical tolerability studies, which are being shared with
SporeGen and Destiny Pharma under the strategic agreement.
HURO have also recently launched "SPEROMED", a nasal spray
healthcare retail product that is based on the SPOR-COV technology
designed in Vietnam and is marketed under Vietnamese regulations.
Destiny Pharma and SporeGen will receive royalties on sales.
The parties are continuing to review the very positive and
exciting results generated by the grant funded collaboration and
are planning the next steps for the SPOR-COV programme including
the possibility of the first human studies in Europe/USA. The
strategy is to seek additional partners to collaborate on the
continuing development and commercialisation of SPOR-COV outside of
Vietnam.
Dr Simon Cutting, Chief Executive Officer of SporeGen, said:
"These data validate the SPOR-COV platform's effectiveness against
multiple pandemic strains of flu and emerging SARS -- CoV -- 2
'variants of concern' by targeting the innate immune system. The
SPOR-COV approach, unlike traditional vaccination, has been shown
to not be impaired by new mutational variants. We are very pleased
with these data and the potential benefit to patients and are very
excited at the prospect of further development of the SPOR-COV
platform."
Neil Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Destiny Pharma, said :
"This Innovate UK funded research project has delivered some very
exciting data and we are now discussing next steps with our
partners. There is still a clear need for better pandemic
preparedness for viral infections such as COVID-19 and influenza
and the SPOR-COV product and the associated technology has great
potential to deliver new treatments that are safe, effective, low
cost and easy to use."
Khanh Nguyen, Chairman of HURO Biotech, said: "As a pioneering
pharmaceutical company focusing on affordable and sustainable
health solutions from probiotics and postbiotics for LMICs, HURO
values the opportunity to develop SPOR-COV into an innovative
product improving public health in Vietnam. We would like to
congratulate SporeGen and Destiny Pharma on the most recent
encouraging data of SPOR-COV, which will create a solid foundation
for further impact in the future."
Webcast
Destiny Pharma Plc is pleased to announce that Neil Clark, Chief
Executive Officer, will provide a live presentation relating to
today's RNS via Investor Meet Company on Tuesday 2nd May 2023 at
10:00am BST.
The presentation is open to all existing and potential
shareholders.
Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add
to meet Destiny Pharma Plc via:
https://www.investormeetcompany.com/destiny-pharma-plc/register-investor
Investors who already follow Destiny Pharma Plc on the Investor
Meet Company platform will automatically be invited.
About SPOR-COV
SPOR--COV product consists of a proprietary formulation of
Bacillus bacteria that is administered nasally as a spray.
Importantly, this product is completely sterile and poses no risk
of administering live bacteria. SPOR-COV is different to
traditional vaccines in that it utilises the innate immune system
with the aim of developing COVID-19 and influenza protection alone
or possibly in combination with vaccine therapies a few days after
dosing. As an "easy to use" product, for COVID-19 and influenza it
has the potential to significantly reduce both infection rates and
transmission. The final SPOR-COV product is planned to be
straightforward to produce at high volumes and at low cost.
Additional attributes are that (i) it can be stockpiled almost
indefinitely without the need for cold chain logistics as it is a
particularly stable product, (ii) made available globally as a
cost-effective measure in the fight against COVID-19 as well as new
COVID variants, and (iii) potential efficacy against other
respiratory viral infections."
S
For further information, please contact:
Destiny Pharma plc
Neil Clark, CEO
Shaun Claydon, CFO
+44 (0)1273 704 440
pressoffice@destinypharma.com
HURO Biotech
Linh Nguyen Managing Director
+84-28 3622 8889 ext. 111
linhnth@hurobiotech.com
Optimum Strategic Communications
Mary Clark / Nick Bastin / Jonathan Edwards / Eleanor Cooper
+44 (0) 203 922 0891
DestinyPharma@optimumcomms.com
finnCap Ltd (Nominated Advisor and Joint Broker)
Geoff Nash / George Dollemore, Corporate Finance
Alice Lane / Nigel Birks / Harriet Ward, ECM
+44 (0) 207 220 0500
Shore Capital (Joint Broker)
Daniel Bush / James Thomas / Lucy Bowden
+44 (0) 207 408 4090
MC Services AG
Anne Hennecke / Andreas Burckhardt
+49-211-529252-12
About Destiny Pharma
Destiny Pharma is a clinical stage, innovative biotechnology
company focused on the development of novel medicines that can
prevent life-threatening infections. Its pipeline has novel
microbiome-based biotherapeutics and XF drug clinical assets
including NTCD-M3, a Phase 3 ready treatment for the prevention of
C. difficile infection (CDI) recurrence which is the leading cause
of hospital acquired infection in the US and also XF-73 nasal gel,
which has recently completed a positive Phase 2b clinical trial
targeting the prevention of post-surgical staphylococcal hospital
infections including MRSA. It is also co-developing SPOR-COV, a
novel, biotherapeutic product for the prevention of COVID-19 and
other viral respiratory infections and has earlier grant funded XF
research projects.
For further information on the company, please visit
www.destinypharma.com
About SporeGen Ltd
SporeGen Limited is a UK biotechnology company working
exclusively on spore forming Bacillus bacteria and development of
new innovative products including probiotics, medical foods and
drugs. SporeGen also develops novel prophylactic and therapeutic
products including vaccines. SporeGen was the first to use spores
as vaccine delivery vehicles and has coordinated a Phase 1 study of
a mucosal vaccine. The company has a number of pipeline products
including two unique prophylactic and therapeutic approaches for C.
difficile infection and a spore-based prophylactic for COVID-19 and
Influenza (SPOR-COV(R) ). The company has licensed (and patented) a
number of novel interventions and innovative Bacillus technologies
to global food and biotech companies with a number of commercial
products on the market including the novel probiotic strains
HU58(R) and HU36(R) .
For further information on the company, please visit
www.sporegen.com
About HURO Biotech
HURO Biotech is a pioneering biotechnology company in South East
Asia focusing on innovative solutions for sustainable human health
from sporebiotics and postbiotics. The company started in 2012 as a
biotech center of The PAN Group - the leading agriculture, food and
nutrition business in Vietnam. Since its spinoff in 2019, HURO has
committed to improving human long-term health, while implementing
affordable solutions for public health, with trusted proprietary
products from beneficial microbes and biotech advancement, with
best-in-class production quality and verifiable health claims. HURO
is the only Vietnamese facility with GMP-WHO certified production
of both probiotics and postbiotics.
https://hurobiotech.com/en/about/
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
MSCPPUGWCUPWGQR
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 02, 2023 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Destiny Pharma (LSE:DEST)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Destiny Pharma (LSE:DEST)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024