Immunethep

First vaccine in the world to prevent multiple bacterial infections

Resumo do investimento

Categoria de impacto

Economia social

Tipo de investimento

Empréstimo

Juro anual

6.25

Prazo

meses

Nível de risco

C+

Ver mais

Immunethep is developing broad-coverage anti-bacterial immunotherapies targeting a novel virulence mechanism used by different pathogenic bacteria that allows them to cause the infection.

Their most advanced product is the Paragon Novel Vaccine (PNV), the first Vaccine in the world that simultaneously prevents infections from 5 of the most critical bacteria for mankind (S.aureus, S.pneumoniae, K.pneumoniae, E.coli, and S.agalactiae) which greatly reduces the need for antibiotics contributing to reducing Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

The funding raised through this campaign will enable Immunethep to speed up the procedures to start the clinical trials of PNV, thus shortening the time for this vaccine to be available in the market.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is leading to an uncontrolled rise of superbugs. This global threat kills around 1.27 million people annually and is estimated to increase 8-fold by 2050, reaching 10 million yearly deaths. Today AMR costs around $30 billion a year to the EU and USA health systems.

According to the CDC (Center for Disease and Control Prevention), the five bacteria addressed by PNV are responsible for 80% of all life-threatening human infections. The therapies used to fight superbugs are antibiotics (treatment) and vaccines (prevention). The antibiotics are increasingly less effective (four of the bacteria mentioned are highly resistant to antibiotics) and contribute to AMR growth.

Immunethep has successfully concluded the preclinical trials with PNV. The promotor is now looking for funding to test further. A significant part of that funding is already assured with the support of a 2.5 million euro grant awarded to Immunethep by the European Innovation Council.

PNV will become the first ever multiple bacteria vaccine in the world to enter human clinical trials. This has been recently acknowledged by the World Health Organization in its report on Bacterial vaccines in clinical and preclinical development.

Qual é o impacto?

Direct

Support of worldwide health with the research and development of vaccines: with the funding, Immunethep will be able to bring their innovative vaccine Paragon Novel Vaccine (PNV) to the step of human studies. This vaccine would be able to prevent infections from 5 critical bacteria (S.aureus, S.pneumoniae, K.pneumoniae, E.coli and S.agalactiae) that are linked to life-threatening infections in humans.

The use of the vaccine in the prevention of these bacterial diseases greatly reduces the need for antibiotics in the treatment, which contributes to reducing Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

Indirect

Access to essential vaccines: the vaccine under development protects against all the serotypes of the bacteria worldwide and doesn’t require a cold chain distribution as the formulation is stable even at elevated temperatures. This makes the vaccine widely implementable in many different contexts and conditions of storage (particularly relevant for Low and Middle-Income Countries).
Promotion of innovation: The entrance of the PNV in the stage of human studies makes it the first ever multiple bacteria vaccine in the world to enter human clinical trials.

Contribuição para os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável
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Sobre o promotor

About

IMMUNETHEP, SA

A Immunethep é uma empresa portuguesa que se destaca pelo desenvolvimento de vacinas em colaboração com as principais empresas farmacêuticas focadas em dar resposta a problemas globais. Até à data, o promotor já desenvolveu duas vacinas baseadas em conhecimento científico interno, com ensaios pré-clínicos bem sucedidos:

PNV (uma vacina anti-bacteriana que previne infecções, reduzindo grandemente a AMR),
SILBA (vacina SARS-CoV-2 para prevenir a COVID-19).

A Immunethep foi fundada em Outubro de 2013 pelo Pedro Madureira e pela Venture Catalysts. Doturado em Ciências Biomedicas e Imunilogia, Pedro Madureira é um notável investigador que se dedicou na Universidade do Porto a tentar compreender como são as bactérias capazes de superar o nosso sistema imunitário e causar infecções, descobrindo e descrevendo em pormenor a virulência utilizada pelas bactérias visadas pelas Immunethep. A Venture Catalysts é uma empresa que apoia os empresários através da integração de startups como empreendedores residentes. Oferece soluções de gestão, financeiras e de desenvolvimento empresarial para start-ups.

A Immunethep está localizada em Cantanhede, no Biocant Park, onde encontrou as condições ideais para iniciar o desenvolvimento independente de imunoterapias. O seu objectivo é salvar milhões de vidas, prevenindo infecções das cinco bactérias que mais ameaçam a vida humana a nível mundial.

A Immunethep tem uma equipa de 10 pessoas e pretende duplicar este número para entrar para a fase de ensaios clínicos, aprovação da PNV e para continuar a desenvolver a imunoterapia terapêutica UNImAb.

A Immunethep é um actor reconhecido da indústria, colaboram com duas grandes empresas farmacêuticas e conta com parceiros como a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Website do promotor

www.immunethep.com

Equipa
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[{"id":65,"promoter_id":278,"name":"Bruno Santos","description":"Bruno Santos, M.Eng, MBA – Co-founder and CEO at Immunethep. Bruno has a background in Biological Engineering and over 10 years of experience in Consulting, Quality and Continuous Improvement Engineering in high-tech industries. He is a co-founder of Venture Catalysts, a company focused on the creation of start-ups based on scientific projects and supports visionary researchers and entrepreneurs. Bruno adds the complementary business and entrepreneurial expertise required, having done the whole cycle from creation to exit.","link":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/brunommsantos/","role":"CEO","member_photo":"https://991934249232-prod-octobercms-public-storage.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/public/63a/c23/f66/63ac23f66b17e027030966.jpg","avatar_id":74475},{"id":66,"promoter_id":278,"name":"Marta Vieira","description":"P.h.D in Biomedical Sciences from Universidade do Porto, Marta has over ten years of experience in the field of research and joined the Immunethep team seven years ago.","link":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/marta-vieira-6588a9125/","role":"Head of Research","member_photo":"https://991934249232-prod-octobercms-public-storage.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/public/63a/c24/3a4/63ac243a4d211102964553.jpg","avatar_id":74476},{"id":67,"promoter_id":278,"name":"Pedro Madureira","description":"Pedro Madureira, PhD - Co-founder and CSO at Immunethep. Pedro is the lead discoverer of immunosuppressive molecules excreted by bacterial pathogens. This research is the basis for the immunotherapies that are being developed at Immunethep. Furthermore, he is the inventor of a European Patent Application concerning this vaccine in June 2014.","link":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedro-madureira-8812039a/","role":"CSO","member_photo":"https://991934249232-prod-octobercms-public-storage.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/public/63a/c61/a8e/63ac61a8eef34689781564.jpg","avatar_id":74518}]

Modelo de negócio
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