Pneumococcal vaccine pre-clinical development supported by £0.2 million award from Biomedical Catalyst

ImmBio (Immunobiology Ltd), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative vaccines against serious infectious diseases, today announced that the UK government-backed Biomedical Catalyst has awarded the company approximately £0.2 million ($0.3 million) to support pre-clinical development of its pneumococcal vaccine, PnuBioVax™, which targets a wide range of strains of the bacteria. This new grant follows the award of approximately £1 million ($1.5 million) at the end of 2012 by the Biomedical Catalyst, to support the development of ImmBio’s novel meningococcal B vaccine, MenBioVax™. The Biomedical Catalyst is a programme of public funding managed jointly by the UK’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board, and the Medical Research Council, which has to date awarded nearly £96 million to 115 projects to support the accelerated development of innovative solutions to healthcare challenges.

ImmBio’s vaccine candidates are based on its proprietary ImmBioVax™ technology platform. This uses novel cell-culture production processes to stress the target bacterial pathogen, mimicking the natural immune response to infection. This innovative approach generates vaccines that incorporate
multi-protein complexes, offering potential broad-based protection against a wide range of pathogen strains without the need for adjuvants or other immune stimulators.

“ImmBio is delighted to receive funding from the UK’s innovation agency and Medical Research Council to progress the development of our novel vaccines”, said Graham Clarke, CEO of ImmBio.

“Successfully winning funding in both the first and second Biomedical Catalyst investment rounds represents a major vote of confidence in our ImmBioVax™ vaccine technology. This most recent award recognises the need for effective new vaccines against invasive pneumococcal disease, and
the potential of our technology to protect against a wide range of disease-causing strains.”