EAACI review of adjuvants and formulations

RNS Number : 4921K

Allergy Therapeutics PLC

22 April 2020

 

Allergy Therapeutics plc

("Allergy Therapeutics" or the "Group")

Allergy Therapeutics welcomes European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology review paper exploring adjuvants and formulations in allergy immunotherapies 

-  Review of marketed and investigational adjuvant strategies published in Allergy, official journal of EAACI

-  Taskforce recognises potential of adjuvants and delivery systems to optimise efficacy and improve adherence to allergy immunotherapies underlining the Group's products and strategy

22 April 2020 Allergy Therapeutics plc (AIM:AGY), the fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company specialising in allergy vaccines, today welcomes the publication of a Task Force Position Paper, in the journal Allergy, supporting the use and potential advantages of adjuvant technology in allergy immunotherapies, such as those commercialised by Allergy Therapeutics' Bencard Adjuvant Systems division and used in the Group's R&D.

The paper, "State-of-the-art in marketed adjuvants and formulations in Allergen Immunotherapy:

a position paper of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI)" , was written by an independent taskforce of EAACI members and co-authored by the PEI and includes a review of adjuvants and formulations currently used in marketed allergy immunotherapies.

Adjuvant technology, which has the potential to create immunotherapies that act faster and work more efficiently than traditional therapies, is a key element of Allergy Therapeutics' strategy to research and develop innovative allergy immunotherapies. Through its Bencard Adjuvant Systems division, the Group also engages in long-term partnerships with those requiring its patented platform of adjuvant technologies to enable successful vaccine or immunotherapy development in areas outside allergy.

Two adjuvants used by Allergy Therapeutics in the Group's immunotherapies treating allergic conditions including those caused by pollens and house dust mites - MPL (monophosphoryl lipid A) and MCT (microcrystalline tyrosine) - were included in the review, with the taskforce acknowledging each as safe and effective. The authors stated, "At present, and since its introduction into AIT in 1970, there are no specific safety concerns known for MCT. It can be anticipated that this fully biodegradable adjuvant will also in future studies not reveal side effects."

The review concludes by recognising the importance of adjuvants in improving the insufficient adherence among patients receiving allergy immunotherapy, with the authors stating "Overall, adherence is a severe problem in all of the currently marketed allergen immunotherapy products, underlining the need for optimising AIT with novel adjuvants and enhanced efficacy towards true vaccine concepts."

Manuel Llobet, Chief Executive Officer of Allergy Therapeutics, commented: "We have developed biodegradable adjuvants that make allergy treatment more efficient than ever - a key technology in our pioneering approach to the development of innovative treatments for allergy patients. This paper endorses the approach we have taken at Allergy Therapeutics, through our important and growing Bencard Adjuvant Systems division, to invest in innovative adjuvant technology that aim to make our therapies as convenient as they are effective^[1] and to improve future vaccines in other disease indications in areas such as influenza, cancers and malaria^[2-5]."

The EAACI position paper is available online (open access) at https://doi.org/10.1111/all.14134  

References

1.  Roberts et al., EAACI Guidelines on Allergen Immunotherapy: Allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. Allergy. 2017;1-34. DOI: 10.1111/all.13317

2.  Mohsen M et al., Vaccination with nanoparticles combined with micro-adjuvants protects against cancer. J. ImmunoTherapy of Cancer volume 7, Article number: 114 (2019) doi: 10.1186/s40425-019-0587-z.

3.  Cabral-Miranda G et al., Microcrystalline Tyrosine (MCT): A Depot Adjuvant in Licensed Allergy Immunotherapy Offers New Opportunities in Malaria, Vaccines 2017, 5(4), 32; doi:10.3390/vaccines5040032

4.  Cabral-Miranda G et al., Virus-Like Particle (VLP) Plus Microcrystalline Tyrosine (MCT) Adjuvants Enhance Vaccine Efficacy Improving T and B Cell Immunogenicity and Protection against Plasmodium berghei/vivax, Vaccines  2017, 5(2), 10; doi:10.3390/vaccines5020010

5.  Heath M, et al., Comparison of a novel microcrystalline tyrosine adjuvant with aluminium hydroxide for enhancing vaccination against seasonal influenza BMC Infectious Diseases volume 17, Article number: 232 (2017). doi: 10.1186/s12879-017-2329-5.

About Allergy Therapeutics

Allergy Therapeutics is an international commercial biotechnology company focussed on the treatment and diagnosis of allergic disorders, including aluminium free immunotherapy vaccines that have the potential to cure disease. The Group sells proprietary and third-party products from its subsidiaries in nine major European countries and via distribution agreements in an additional ten countries. Its broad pipeline of products in clinical development include vaccines for grass, tree and house dust mite, and peanut allergy vaccine in pre-clinical development. Adjuvant systems to boost performance of vaccines outside allergy are also in development.

Formed in 1999 out of SmithKline Beecham, Allergy Therapeutics is headquartered in Worthing, UK with more than 11,000m² of state-of-the-art MHRA-approved manufacturing facilities and laboratories.  The Group, which has achieved double digit compound annual growth since formation, employs c.500 employees and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (AIM:AGY). For more information, please see www.allergytherapeutics.com

About Allergy

Allergy, the official journal of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), aims to advance, impact and communicate all aspects of the discipline of Allergy/Immunology including educational, basic, translational and clinical research and maintain contact between basic and clinical Allergy/Immunology. Allergy is an international journal with contributors and readers from all countries. Allergy publishes original articles, reviews, position papers, guidelines, editorials, news and commentaries, letters to the editors and correspondences. With an impact factor of 2.46 the journal ranks 2nd of 27 in the Allergy category and 22nd of 201 in the Immunology category in the 2018 Scimago Journal & country rank published by Scimago.    

For further information, please contact:

Allergy Therapeutics

[phone]

Manuel Llobet, Chief Executive Officer

Nick Wykeman, Chief Financial Officer

Consilium Strategic Communications

[phone]

Mary-Jane Elliott / David Daley / Nicholas Brown / Olivia Manser

[e-mail]

Panmure Gordon

Nominated Adviser and Broker

[phone]

Freddy Crossley, Emma Earl, Corporate Finance

James Stearns, Corporate Broking

Stern Investor Relations, Inc.

[phone]

Christina Tartaglia

[e-mail]

 

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