Poolbeg granted European patent for antiviral nose spray

Clinical-stage pharmaceutical company Poolbeg Pharma reported on the strengthening of its intellectual property (IP) for its ‘POLB 002’ asset on Thursday - a first-in-class, intranasally-administered RNA-based immunotherapy for respiratory virus infections.

The AIM-traded firm secured an exclusive licence for the dual antiviral prophylactic and therapeutic candidate in January.

It said data suggested it could provide pan-viral protection from respiratory virus infections including flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Covid-19 and others.

As a nasally-administered and rapidly-effective prophylactic antiviral candidate, it could potentially provide an effective solution for protecting at-risk patient populations such as the elderly, asthmatics, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.

The company said the European Patent Office had granted the new patent in the POLB 002 patent family, protecting the use of a “defective interfering” (DI) influenza virus against infection by influenza.

It explains that POLB 002 works by triggering nasal cells into an antiviral state using DI influenza, which resembles the infectious influenza virus but without the ability to replicate - provoking an “appropriate immune response” without causing an infection.

The company said it would continue working with its patent advisors to broaden and expand the patent family, including the method by which defective interfering antiviral agents could be identified.

Discussions with patent authorities in other jurisdictions, including the US, were continuing, with the board expecting to make “further positive announcements” after a recent 'notice of allowance' from US authorities.

“The granting of this patent marks an important step in our development and protection of this important respiratory virus disease treatment,” said chief executive officer Jeremy Skillington.

“Data for POLB 002 shows it is able to both prevent viral infections and rapidly reduce viral loads where infection has occurred, improving disease symptoms and aiding recovery.”

Skillington said that made it an “attractive candidate” in a market where a significant unmet need for the treatment of most respiratory virus infections still existed.

“Our patent portfolio in Europe, US and elsewhere for POLB 002 are growing as part of our overall strategy to enhance the protection of Poolbeg's assets and we look forward to updating shareholders on future patent grants.”

At 1352 BST, shares in Poolbeg Pharma were up 4.32% at 6.52p.