The biotechnology firm LimmaTech Biologics (LimmaTech Bio), which is based in Schlieren in the canton of Zurich, has reached an in-license agreement with the British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company GSK. The agreement will allow LimmaTech to further develop its quadrivalent bioconjugate vaccine candidate against shigellosis, further details of which can be found in a press release.
Shigellosis, also known as dysentery, is a serious diarrheal infection caused by the Dysentery Bacillus. The vaccine candidate currently under development comprises antigens from the four epidemiologically most relevant Shigella bacterial strains.
The vaccine candidate is currently being tested in a Phase 1/2 study to verify its safety and immunogenicity in the target population of infants aged nine months. “It is now more than ever critical to have a vaccine against a pathogen that is increasingly becoming resistant to antibiotics and represents a high unmet need, especially in young children”, comments Patricia Martin, Managing Director and Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at LimmaTech Bio, in the press release.
Following the takeover of its predecessor firm GlycoVaxyn by GSK, LimmaTech Bio was founded as a spin-off in 2015. Since this time, there has been a research collaboration with GSK with an emphasis on the development of novel vaccines on the basis of bioconjugate antigens. After generating positive human results with the monovalent Shigella vaccine, LimmaTech began developing a multivalent vaccine in 2018. The results of the phase 1/2 study for this multivalent vaccine are expected to be available later in 2023.
The company, which is a member of the Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zürich, has now also announced that Franz-Werner Haas has been appointed as its new CEO. Haas arrives from the mRNA specialist CureVac, which is based in the German city of Tübingen, where he spent 11 years in executive functions, most recently as CEO. CureVac previously worked with GSK on the development of a vaccine to combat COVID-19.
