Enesi Pharma Achieves Key Milestone in Development of Thermostable Solid-dose Live Vaccines against Measles and Rubella

OXFORD, England, May 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Enesi Pharma ("Enesi"), an innovative biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccination products targeting infectious diseases and emergent threat pathogens enabled by its ImplaVax® technologies, announces it has achieved a key milestone in its project to develop needle-free thermostable unit solid-dose live vaccines with retained activity against Measles and Rubella. The project, which started in October 2019, received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The project established important proof-of-concept for ImplaVax®-enabled unit solid-dose presentations of both vaccines, demonstrating that each was thermally stable at temperatures of 40°C for three days and at 25°C for at least one month, and met key criteria for retained activity. Further longer-term stability studies are underway, and the Company is planning the immunogenicity studies needed to determine the next development steps to progress the novel vaccine formulations towards clinical trials.

Measles and Rubella vaccines are typically maintained in a lyophilized (freeze-dried) form that requires reconstitution in solution prior to injection using a needle and syringe. Once reconstituted, however, the vaccines exhibit very poor thermal stability and rapidly lose effectiveness if not refrigerated. This is an important consideration in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where cold-chain issues and access to target populations for vaccinations can be challenging.

By eliminating the need for reconstitution and improving thermal stability, ImplaVax®-enabled Measles and Rubella vaccines could improve the cost effectiveness of supply and robustness of vaccine deployment and delivery in these regions. Additionally, ImplaVax®-enabled Measles and Rubella vaccines may provide further benefits that improve vaccination uptake and coverage based on needle-free delivery of a unit dose minimising vaccine wastage, elimination of needlestick and cross contamination hazards and waste, and requirement for minimal training.

David Hipkiss, Enesi Pharma CEO, commented:

"We are extremely grateful for the support we have received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to undertake this project. It is very exciting to see the results emerging from this and the many other collaborations we initiated over the past few years with leading partners, including those announced recently in pandemic flu and in significant animal health indications. These results are establishing preclinical proof-of-concept for ImplaVax®-enabled solid dose forms of vaccines based on many of the major current formats in use today. As we successfully achieve key milestones in these collaborations, we are building a firm foundation of evidence supporting our belief that our ImplaVax® solid-dose technology could be a potentially transformational approach to improving vaccination against significant health threats globally."

About Measles and Rubella

Measles remains one of the leading causes of childhood mortality leading to an estimated 450 deaths each day worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. It is highly infectious and serious complications include blindness, encephalitis (brain swelling), ear and respiratory infections.

Rubella is usually a mild infection in childhood however when an unprotected woman is infected while pregnant it can result in miscarriage, serious or sometimes fatal complications for the foetus including hearing, eye and heart defects as well as autism and diabetes.

Measles and rubella infections are preventable through immunisation but because of persistent gaps in immunisation coverage outbreaks of both infections continue to occur, exacerbated by vaccine hesitancy and refusals and gaps in surveillance and reporting.

About Enesi Pharma

Enesi Pharma is developing next-generation vaccination products targeting infectious diseases and emergent threat pathogens enabled by its ImplaVax® technologies. These diseases affect millions of people around the world. We work in partnership with global companies, government agencies, leading academic institutions and non-governmental organisations with the goal of making a material and lasting positive impact on global health.

Our award-winning ImplaVax®-enabled vaccination products leverage our innovative unit solid-dose formulation and needle-free delivery technologies and are applicable across all vaccine formats. ImplaVax® products are designed to enhance the immune response and offer significant benefits for patients, care givers, healthcare professionals and payers through enhanced effectiveness, safety, ease of use, reliability and stability, and a strong subject preference over administration using needle and syringe. They can be administered with minimal training and are also rapidly deployable while eliminating the need for cold-chain storage.

Our pipeline targets a range of common and emerging infectious diseases, inflammatory diseases and allergies, and has been established through collaborations with world-class organisations, including BARDA DRIVe*, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Innovate UK, the University of Oxford, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), Sementis and the University of Adelaide.

We are also advancing a number of collaborations with leading organisations in animal health, including The Pirbright Institute, which have generated positive results demonstrating the potential of our ImplaVax® formulation and needle-free delivery technologies.

Enesi's experienced leadership team has a proven track record in the successful development and commercialisation of innovative products delivering high value outcomes for all stakeholders and is supported by a world-renowned Scientific Advisory Board.

*This project has been funded in whole or in part with US Federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, DRIVe, under Contract No. 75A50119C00032.

CONTACTS

Enesi Pharma
David Hipkiss, CEO
Tel: +44 (0) 7968 707072
Email: david.hipkiss@enesipharma.com 

Citigate Dewe Rogerson (for Enesi Pharma)
Mark Swallow, Nathaniel Dahan
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7638 9571
Email: enesipharma@citigatedewerogerson.com 

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