Poolbeg secures exclusive licence to possible obesity drug tech

The AIM-traded firm said that in the first half of 2023, it would “rapidly commence” a proof-of-technology clinical trial to determine that a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1) agonist could be safely delivered orally in humans.

GLP-1 agonists, currently used to treat diabetes and obesity, represent an “extremely large, fast-growing opportunity” estimated to grow to $22bn per year by 2025.

At present, all but one GLP-1 product are injectables, which Poolbeg said is more onerous for patients than oral delivery.

The company said the upcoming trial was designed to provide data confirming that the patented microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation technologies could safely deliver GLP-1 orally, with results expected to be announced later in 2023.

In line with its rapid-partnering model, Poolbeg said it then intended to licence the technology to pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms for use in obesity and diabetes, as well as other active molecules in metabolic syndrome-related diseases.

The exclusive licence was in addition to Poolbeg's similar licence to AnaBio's microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation technologies, which underpin its ‘oral vaccine platform’.

As it recently announced, a Poolbeg-led consortium was awarded €2.3m in non-dilutive funding by the Irish government's Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund to progress the oral vaccine platform.

“Poolbeg saw the potential for microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation oral delivery technologies in vaccines, and this has been further validated by the grant from the Irish government's Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund,” said chief executive officer Jeremy Skillington.

“Drawing on our growing understanding of this technology from our Oral Vaccine Platform, we believe that there is significant opportunity in other adjacent areas, such as metabolic diseases.”

Skillington said diabetes and obesity were “extremely fast growing” markets, adding that the ability to administer drugs orally rather than through injection would improve both access and quality-of-life for millions of patients.

“We are really excited to be moving swiftly to a proof-of-concept trial in the first half of 2023 to test the oral delivery of GLP-1 in humans, with the results to be announced later in the year.”

At 1559 GMT, shares in Poolbeg Pharma were up 0.61% at 6.59p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.