A wave of success for LimmaTech

LimmaTech is a clinical stage biotech company that has built a robust pipeline of innovative vaccines using their proprietary self-adjuvanting and multi-antigen vaccine technology platform. The startup was awarded $2.2 million from the Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) to advance the development of their novel vaccine candidate against Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection, the second most common bacterial STI in the world. The team is now focusing on developing an affordable and effective vaccine candidate against different Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacterial strains to help protect patients in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The Boston-based accelerator CARB-X, which is funded by a global consortium of governments and foundations, financially supports the development of antibiotics, vaccines, rapid diagnostics and other life-saving solutions that target the most serious, resistant bacteria. Their pipeline strategy is to fund projects with diverse approaches and mechanisms of action. Their portfolio counts 97 R&D projects in 13 countries, with 18 projects having advanced into or completed clinical trials, while 12 remain active in clinical development.

In addition to successfully securing funding by CARB-X, LimmaTech announced positive interim data from the Phase I/II clinical trial evaluating their vaccine candidate against shigellosis, a serious infection caused by Shigella bacteria and the second leading cause of fatal diarrheal disease, particularly in infants in LMICs. This clinical trial, conducted in Kenya, is part of a research collaboration agreement between LimmaTech and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), with the goal to develop a multivalent Shigella vaccine. In the target population of 472 infants (aged around nine months) S4V demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile as well as robust immunogenicity against the four most prevalent Shigellaserotypes (groups within a species of bacteria, which share distinctive surface structures). The data highlight the vaccine’s potential to protect the lives of many children as well as offer protection to travelers and military personnel visiting LMICs, where shigellosis is associated with high levels of morbidity and mortality. Topline data from the now completed Phase I/II trial are expected in the first half of 2024.

LimmaTech’s positive news come just one month after the startup raised USD 3 million from healthtech investor Tenmile, bringing its series A round to USD 40 million (CHF 34,7 million).

(Press releases / SR)