Ablynx secures €1.5 million in grants
Ablynx announced that it has been awarded a grant worth €1.1 million by the Flemish agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) and a second grant worth €0.4 million from the Portuguese government, as part of a consortium.
The IWT grant allows Ablynx to accelerate its pre-clinical development programme, ALX-0171, for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections. ALX-0171 binds to RSV and neutralises the virus. The Nanobody will be administered via the lungs and based on in vivo data, it has the potential to be effective both in the prevention of infection as well as in treatment once infection has occurred.
ALX-0171 is Ablynx's first Nanobody pre-clinical development candidate to be delivered through a route other than injection. Like many Nanobodies, ALX-0171 is very stable, making it suitable for inhalation. It can also be manufactured at relatively low cost in microbial systems.
The grant from the Portuguese government will allow Ablynx and its collaborators, to explore routes of delivery for Nanobodies into the central nervous system (CNS) and to develop Nanobodies against therapeutically relevant CNS targets.
Edwin Moses, CEO and Chairman of Ablynx, said: "We are delighted with IWT's continued support of Ablynx's Nanobody platform as well as with this second grant from the Portuguese government which will allow us to further explore and develop Nanobody-based therapies for CNS diseases where the unmet medical need is very high. Today, we have over 25 therapeutic programmes in our pipeline with four Nanobody products in clinical development."
Other news from the department business & finance
Get the life science industry in your inbox
From now on, don't miss a thing: Our newsletter for biotechnology, pharma and life sciences brings you up to date every Tuesday and Thursday. The latest industry news, product highlights and innovations - compact and easy to understand in your inbox. Researched by us so you don't have to.
