• Vaccine technologies licensed from Griffith University will be used to develop novel vaccines for increasingly prevalent antibiotic resistant strains
• Technologies will be initially applied to develop world’s first vaccine against gonorrhea

LimmaTech Biologics AG, a clinical-stage biotech company developing vaccines for the prevention of life-threatening diseases, today announced a license and collaboration agreement with Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, to develop vaccines that prevent diseases with significant unmet medical need caused by emerging antibiotic resistant strains. The company has obtained an exclusive license to a suite of vaccine technologies developed by Professors Michael Jennings and Kate Seib at Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics. LimmaTech will initially use the technologies as well as its in-house expertise to develop the world’s first gonorrhea vaccine.

“Antibiotic resistance and rising rates of gonorrhoea infections worldwide demonstrate the need for a gonococcal vaccine that can protect against potentially life-threatening variants. Antibodies against our antigens are functionally active in a variety of relevant assays, demonstrating promising vaccine efficacy,” commented Dr. Michael Kowarik, Chief Scientific Officer of LimmaTech. “Our collaboration with Griffith University will enable us to develop a much-needed vaccination option to address gonorrhoea and to advance other new vaccines for rapidly evolving global challenges.”

Gonorrhoea is the second most common sexually transmitted infection globally, with more than 105 million people infected each year. If left untreated, gonorrhoea can have severe implications including infertility in women and blindness in newborn babies. Infection also dramatically increases the risk of contracting and transmitting the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV. Alarmingly, it is predicted that in just a few years most infections will no longer be treatable with the current standard of care antibiotics due to emerging antibiotic resistance. There is currently no vaccine available to treat this common infection.

“We have discovered gonococcal vaccine antigens that show great promise in a laboratory setting. By combining our innovative technologies we hope to translate our findings into an effective vaccine that can minimize the risk of infection,’’ said Michael Jennings, Ph.D, Professor, Institute for Glycomics at Griffith University.

Kate Seib, Ph.D., Professor, Institute for Glycomics at Griffith University added: “The bacterium causing gonorrhea has developed resistance to almost all the antibiotics used to treat the disease. The absence of a vaccine and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant gonococcal strains poses an urgent public health threat. We are excited to partner with LimmaTech to help solve this global problem.”

About LimmaTech Biologics AG

LimmaTech Biologics AG is applying its deep know-how of engineering complex carbohydrate molecules to develop next-generation vaccines to prevent life-threatening diseases. Spun out from GlycoVaxyn after that company’s acquisition by GSK, LimmaTech is advancing its own proprietary pipeline to halt the increasing threat of global infections due to emerging antibiotic resistance and sexually transmitted diseases. The company is currently conducting two Phase I/II clinical trials with its partner, GSK, and is committed to translating novel scientific concepts into commercially available vaccines that benefit humanity.

For more information, please visit www.lmtbio.com.

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