Licensing deal for mRNA technology progresses with new candidate

Biotech News: Aussie biotech company Noxopharm announced the development of a new proprietary product candidate based on mRNA technology as part of the company’s Sofra preclinical platform.

This preclinical technology aims to make a broad range of mRNA vaccines safer by reducing inflammation associated with mRNA vaccines. In addition, the technology has the potential to support more cost-effective mRNA vaccine manufacturing.

Under the ongoing collaboration with the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, the team has synthesised a novel ‘vaccine enhancer’ called SOF-VAC which has shown strong in vitro and in vivo activity against inflammation. SOF-VAC represents a first-in-class achievement as the smallest known molecule of its type to have demonstrated this activity. The major advantage of such a small molecule is it reduces the risk of off-target effects compared to larger molecules of this type.

Noxopharm CEO, Dr Gisela Mautner, said “mRNA technologies represent one of today’s most exciting and rapidly developing areas of medicine. They are expected to play an even greater role in the years ahead as they become applicable to numerous diseases and we believe SOF-VAC could contribute significantly in this field.

“Our collaboration with the Hudson Institute team is delivering promising results in the lab, and we aim to build on those and generate interest in our assets. To that end, we will dedicate appropriate resources to this initiative, releasing more data in the future as we further strengthen our IP position, while at the same time keeping on track with our oncology-related research activities.”

A/Prof Michael Gantier, research group leader at Hudson Institute of medical research in Melbourne, said “I have been active in this field of research for over 20 years and am very excited about mRNA technologies like SOF-VAC as we start to see their potential emerge. Thanks to the funds invested in vaccines for COVID-19, the mainstream use of RNA therapeutics is around 5-10 years ahead. It is now clear that RNA therapeutics, beyond vaccines, will grow to benefit millions of people including those with autoinflammatory disease. But there is still a lot more to discover and develop as we move forward to create new kinds of treatments based on these technologies.”

mRNA technology has achieved prominence in recent years as the basis for two of the most successful COVID-19 vaccines, but beyond the recent pandemic there is significant potential for it to be used for a wide range of other diseases. According to Precedence Research, the mRNA market in 2021 was US$42 billion, and is expected to grow to US$128 billion by 2030 at a compound annual growth rate of 13%.

Noxopharm and its wholly owned subsidiary, Pharmorage, have been developing the SOF-VAC mRNA technology under the company’s strategic partnership with the Hudson Institute, which was formally established in November 2021. The research was recently supported by the Victorian Government, which granted A$1.45 million to the Hudson Institute in June 2022 to fund the joint development of novel anti-inflammatory compounds with Pharmorage.

Over the last few years, the company has been building a robust IP position around this lead vaccine candidate and has a family of patent applications in various stages of examination.

In addition to the SOF-VAC vaccine enhancement program, the team has also made significant progress in the drug development part of the Sofra platform, advancing its inflammation drug program that includes the development of standalone treatments for autoimmune diseases such as lupus.