Poolbeg Pharma, a clinical-stage infectious illness pharmaceutical company updated its intellectual property (IP) for POLB 002, a first-in-class, intranasally delivered RNA-based immunotherapy for respiratory viral infections on Thursday.
Poolbeg was granted an exclusive licence for the dual antiviral prophylactic and therapeutic candidate, POLB 002, in January 2022.
It may provide pan-viral protection against respiratory virus infections such as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and SARS-CoV-2, according to research.
It could potentially provide a viable option for protecting at-risk patients such as the elderly, COPD patients, and asthmatics as a nasally delivered and fast effective preventive antiviral candidate.
This significant patent of the POLB 002 patent family, which protects the use of a defective interfering (DI) influenza virus against influenza infection, has been issued by the European Patent Office for Poolbeg Pharma.
POLB 002 works by inducing an antiviral response in nasal cells utilising DI influenza, which resembles the infectious influenza virus but lacks the capacity to replicate, allowing it to elicit an effective immune response but not induce infection.
Poolbeg Pharma will continue to engage with its patent advisors to broaden and develop this patent family, which includes a method for identifying faulty antiviral medicines.
Following a recent ‘Notice of Allowance’ letter from the USPTO, discussions with patent authorities in other jurisdictions, including the US, are expected to continue, with further favourable announcements expected.
With a global focus on respiratory viral infections and such viruses being regarded a top five global killer, resulting in more than 3m annual deaths worldwide, the discovery of POLB 002 and these patent modifications comes at a critical moment.
The pandemic potential of influenza is still being constantly examined by global health authorities, with the WHO and infectious hazard experts advising that a future influenza pandemic can be expected statistically.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that early action and effective preparedness are critical to mitigating risk, emphasising the importance of developing vaccines, prophylactics, and antiviral treatments for viruses, with pan-viral products providing an important solution.
Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma said, “The granting of this patent marks an important step in our development and protection of this important respiratory virus disease treatment. Data for POLB 002 shows it is able to both prevent viral infections and rapidly reduce viral loads where infection has occurred, improving disease symptoms and aiding recovery.”
“This makes it an attractive candidate in a market where a significant unmet need for the treatment of most respiratory virus infections still exists.”
“Our patent portfolio in Europe, US and elsewhere for POLB 002 are growing as part of our overall strategy to enhance the protection of Poolbeg’s assets and we look forward to updating shareholders on future patent grants.”
Poolbeg Pharma’s shares rose 7% to 6.7p after the company announced the update on POLB 002.