NEOVACS STRENGTHENS ITS EXPERTISE IN FOUR THERAPEUTIC AREAS
Paris, February 25, 2014 - NEOVACS (Alternext Paris : ALNEV), a leader in active immunotherapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, announced today that it is strengthening its product portfolio by relaunching 4 preclinical development programs on IFN?-Kinoid, VEGF-Kinoid and IL-4-Kinoid. A total of 7 indications are now targeted by Neovacs’ immunotherapies.
“In order to take the next step in our Company’s development, Neovacs’ Board and management have decided to bolster its pipeline. The clinical development of our two leading products, TNF-Kinoid and IFN?-Kinoid is now well advanced. The phase IIb clinical trial of TNF-Kinoid in Rheumatoid Arthritis is progressing as planned, and we are confident that its results will confirm the efficacy of our technology. And based on our business model, further developments for these products (phase III and IV) will be achieved through licensing deals. We have therefore decided to relaunch four preclinical programs which will allow us to maintain our leadership in the field of therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of auto-immune diseases, chronic viral infections and certain cancers”, commented Miguel Sieler, CEO of Neovacs. Building on the scientific knowledge and technology of Neovacs, these preclinical studies will target 3 cytokines, for which promising preliminary results had already been obtained:
- IFN-Kinoid in certain chronic viral infections.
IFN? blocade in chronic viral infections has already been successfully studied by Neovacs[1]. This preliminary body of work has been sustained by two studies published in Science in 2013[2], which demonstrated the negative effect of IFN? in chronic viral infections.
- VEGF-Kinoid in Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).
Neovacs presented promising results for VEGF-Kinoid in AMD at the EVER conference in 2009[3]. Neovacs had demonstrated that immunization with VEGF-Kinoid prevented the development of the disease in an animal model.
- VEGF-Kinoid in certain cancers (solid tumors).
Two monoclonal antibodies targeting VEGF are used in the treatment of AMD and solid tumors (Avastin® and Lucentis®), thereby lending validation to Neovacs’ approach
- IL-4-Kinoid for the treatment of allergies.
Seminal studies conducted by Neovacs have validated the hypothesis that immunotherapies targeting IL4 would allow to control allergic reactions.
The main objective for these studies is to prepare a clinical development phase, which would begin in 2015 for the most advanced programs. The Company will finance this preclinical work studies with its own resources.
“Restarting preclinical programs, which had already been explored by our R&D team, is excellent news. It enriches our pipeline and broadens our product base. These studies will focus on the most promising targets for the Kinoid technology, based on the potential efficacy of our immunotherapies as much as the medical needs in these therapeutic areas”, concluded Jean-Jacques Betrand, Chairman of Neovacs.
About Neovacs
Neovacs is a biotechnology company focused on an active immunotherapy technology platform (Kinoids) with applications in autoimmune and/or inflammatory diseases. On the basis of the company’s proprietary technology for inducing a polyclonal immune response (covered by six patent families that run until at least 2023) Neovacs is focusing its development efforts on two active immunotherapies: TNF-Kinoid is being developed for the treatment of TNF-mediated autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease, whereas IFN?-Kinoid is being developed for the indication of lupus. The goal of the Kinoid approach is to enable patients to have access to safe treatments with efficacy that is sustained in these life-long diseases.
Caroline Carmagnol
ALIZE RP
+ 33 6 64 18 99 59 / caroline@alizerp.com
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