Pneumagen raises £8m to accelerate Phase 2 clinical development of Neumifil for the prevention & treatment of viral respiratory tract infections

2023-06-01

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Neumifil is being developed for the prevention and treatment of virus induced exacerbations in patients with respiratory disease

Advancing Neumifil into a Phase 2b clinical study due to start in 2024

Pneumagen, a clinical stage biotech company developing Neumifil, a broad-spectrum antiviral, intranasal drug for the prophylaxis and treatment of viral respiratory tract infections (RTIs), today announced that it has secured £8 million in financing from existing and new investors to support the continued Phase 2 development of Neumifil in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients suffering from virus induced exacerbations.

Pneumagen secured the latest funds from existing investors, Thairm Bio and Scottish Enterprise, new investor Esperante Ventures, the directors, as well as several US based investors.

The latest funding round will enable the company to advance the clinical development of Neumifil for individuals with COPD suffering from virus induced exacerbations.

Neumifil is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2a proof of concept human challenge study in healthy participants subsequently infected with influenza virus. Initial results are expected in mid-2023.

Douglas Thomson, Chief Executive Officer at Pneumagen said: “We are very pleased to announce this funding from our existing and new investors. This financing speaks to their confidence in our strategy and the significant progress we have made. The funds will be used to support the continuing development of Neumifil, including preparing for a Phase 2b study in COPD patients which is planned to begin in 2024.”

Thairm Bio’s Mark Bamforth said, “We are delighted to continue our support for Pneumagen for the further development of Neumifil, which has a highly promising profile based on early pre-clinical and clinical data. We have been impressed by Pneumagen’s progress and believe Neumifil could address a large unmet medical need by preventing virus induced exacerbations, which can be potentially lethal for some patients suffering from serious underlying respiratory disease.”

“We are excited to make our initial investment in Pneumagen,” said Dean Slagel, Managing Director at Esperante Ventures. “We were attracted by the quality of Pneumagen’s leadership and multiple milestones that Douglas and the Pneumagen team have delivered as they work to position Neumifil as a treatment option for respiratory tract infections.”

About Pneumagen

Pneumagen is a clinical- stage biotech company developing Neumifil, its lead product, a broad-spectrum antiviral, intranasal drug for the prophylaxis and treatment of viral respiratory tract infections (RTIs).

Neumifil is expected to advance into a Phase 2b clinical study in 2024, to reduce the suffering from virus induced exacerbations.

Neumifil is a novel, engineered multivalent Carbohydrate Binding Molecule (mCBM). It acts by directly binding and preventing the entry of the viral pathogens into the lungs with reduced susceptibility to direct viral resistance. Neumifil was generated using Pneumagen’s proprietary GlycoTarge™ technology that acts by stopping viruses at the site of infection, reducing their ability both to enter cells and to migrate to the lungs.

In addition to Neumifil, Pneumagen is harnessing its GlycoTarge™ platform to enable the development of a pipeline of intranasal therapies targeting other infectious lung diseases.

Pneumagen was established in 2016 as a spin-out from the University of St Andrews in Scotland giving Pneumagen access to world-class scientific expertise and capabilities in viral RTI’s specifically related to glycobiology.

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