Diarrhea Vaccine Candidate Receives $9.4 Million Dollar Funding

EveliQure Biotechnologies ShigETEC diarrhea vaccine targets both travelers and local populations
women in bangladesh
Asia (Precision Vaccinations News)

An Austrian biotech company announced in a press release that it received a grant of US $9,470,750 from Horizon2020, the European Union´s Research and Innovation program.

EveliQure Biotechnologies said on September 10, 2019, ‘this funding supports first-in-man studies of its proprietary ShigETEC vaccine candidate.’

EveliQure’s orally administered ShigETEC vaccine is based on a live attenuated Shigella strain and, unlike previous approaches, induces broad protection against Shigella in a serotype-independent fashion and also against ETEC (Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli)  2 major pathogens responsible for diarrhoeal diseases.

This is important news since diarrheal disease kills over 2,100 children every day – more than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined reports the World Health Organization. 

In addition, 30-50 percent of international travelers visiting developing countries suffer from diarrhea. 

This project will run for 5 years and will cover the manufacture and formulation of clinical trial material and Phase 1 safety and immunogenicity studies in 2 different populations, adults in Europe and children in Bangladesh.

Based on extensive preclinical data generated by EveliQure, it has the potential to be a first-in-class diarrhea vaccine that targets both travelers and populations in low- and middle-income countries. 

The first Phase 1 study is expected to start in Europe during the first half of 2020. 

This latest grant builds on EveliQure’s previous success in securing significant funding from public sources (Austria Wirschaftsservice and Austrian Research Promotion Agency, FFG) and private investors.

Gábor Somogyi, M.D., MBA, Chief Executive Officer of EveliQure, said: “It's exciting to see our unique Shigella-ETEC combination vaccine take this critically important step and move into the first clinical trials with our innovative approach and breakthrough platform.”

Out of the most prevalent enteric pathogens causing diarrhea, effective prophylactic vaccines exist only for cholera, typhoid, and rotavirus. 

To date, no effective vaccine is available for diarrhoeal disease caused by Shigella and ETEC, said EveliQure.

EveliQure Biotechnologies is an Austrian based biotech company that is a game-changer amongst vaccine companies, championing novel technologies to make the world safe from diarrhea.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 815568.

Published by Vax Before Travel

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