Poolbeg Pharma (POLB) , a clinical-stage biopharma company focused on infectious diseases, issued an interim update for the 6 months to June 30 2023 (H1 2023).
Poolbeg hit a number of operational milestones during the half. Notably, the company received positive results from the LPS human challenge trial for its flagship POLB 001 asset. Furthermore, POLB 001 was expanded into oncology, including as a potential treatment option for Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS), a side-effect associated with CAR T cell therapies. Poolbeg said it is actively exploring new indications for POLB 001 in oncology beyond CAR T.
The biopharma company also continued development of its AI programme with CytoReason, providing new insight into influenza infection and identifying several novel drug targets. Further on the AI front, lab-based validation of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) drug targets and treatments identified from Poobeg's AI programme, is expected to complete in H2 2023.
Poolbeg continues to progress its oral GLP-1 vaccine candidate for treatment of obesity and diabetes, with a proof-of-technology clinical trial expected to commence in H1 2024. The Poolbeg-led EncOVac consortium was awarded €2.3m in grant funding to progress its Oral Vaccine Programme, which has now entered its second phase of development with the encapsulation validation process, expected to complete in H2 2023.
The company also maintained a robust cast balance during the half, ending with £14.1m on June 30.
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Another positive update from Poolbeg, detailing significant operational progress. The company advanced its pipeline significantly during the half with strong clinical trial data for its flagship POLB 001 candidate and breakthroughs in its AI-led drug discovery programmes. POLB 001 is shaping up to be a highly valuable asset as an effective treatment for severe influenza and potentially other acute inflammatory conditions, in addition to oncology indications. Poolbeg is currently in discussions with potential oncology partners for POLB 001, with an agreement likely to be signed in 2023 or 2024.
Poolbeg's oral vaccine programme represents another significant commercial opportunity, addressing significant unmet medical need. The platform has the potential to be licensed to partners or developed internally within Poolbeg, positioning the company to help tackle a broad range of infectious diseases.
The company's loss and cash position for the period remained broadly unchanged as it continued its cost-effective R&D approach. The comfortable cash balance and other non-dilutive funding will keep the company financed through its development pipeline.
Poolbeg's capital-light business model focuses on bringing products through to early human proof of concept in the clinic, then partnering with large pharma and biotech companies that continue the pipeline to production and distribution. Thus, Poolbeg can profit from the relatively inexpensive human trial process, now enhanced with AI analysis, and then exit at the scale-up stage, in this way becoming an effective one-stop shop for biopharma seeking products to in-license.
Overall, the company made significant strides during the half in progressing its pipeline of products, most notably POLB 001, while keeping a tight but effective R&D budget. As detailed above, Poolbeg is chasing multiple near-term value inflection points, giving investors much to look forward to before the end of the year. POLB shares jumped 4.2% on today's update.
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