Hyderabad: Premas Biotech, based on Gurugram, which has developed a virus-like particle (VLP), is looking for a solution to prevent Covid through an oral vaccine, in partnership and collaboration with an Israeli company, Oramed Pharmaceuticals.
The company’s VLP technology has attracted a lot of attention and they are in talks with several companies.
The company has worked in the past coronavirus antigens in animals and thus had a previous experience that vein proteins do mutate. The company began focusing on SARS CoV-2 membrane (M) and Envelope (E) proteins, which are not known to mutate. Then the idea of the oral pill for the Covid vaccine originated from the continuous Oral Insulin pill with Oramed.
Prabuddha Kundu, the co-founder and managing director of Premas Biotech, told Telangana Today: “Premas Biotech has been working with Oramed on oral insulin for 7-8 years. We have been involved in this since the conceptual stage and have given more than one hundred kilograms of material, and Oramed is conducting the Phase 3 trials in the USA. The oral insulin can be introduced in early 2024. ”
‘The original idea that – what if we take out the insulin portion of the pill and replace the VLP there. This was initially achieved by formulating and overcoming serious technological barriers of three protein lyophilization, and developing a prototype. Research data from a pig study in Israel have further increased our confidence that oral VLP technology will work, ‘he added.
Inspired by the research evidence, Premas and Oramed decided to start a joint venture (JV) called Oravax and register the company in the US. The JV firm would like to go for phase I trial in any country that is ready to start the trial.
He said of the benefits: ‘The pill (a prescription medicine) will be stable at room temperature, and it is not necessary for medical staff to administer it. There is a lot of good animal data, and the JV firm is in talks with countries in Europe, America and Asia to allow phase I trials. Many countries have approached to be part of the development of oral vaccines. “
‘We had a good interaction with the drug regulator for our biologics. The dossier is being prepared now and in the coming weeks, as more data becomes available, we will be talking to more countries worldwide, including India, ” he noted.
Wide platforms
He recalled the first trip and said: ‘When we set up Premas in 2005, we started working on platforms like D-Crypt platform, which is a manufactured yeast around proteins (DTE-Ps), which is difficult to to express, to make. This platform was very successful for membrane proteins. ”
“Furthermore, Premas Biotech was one of the first companies to apply the Lean system to biology from 2009 with the aim of making a significant impact on deliveries and COGs (cost of goods) and delivering benefits to our customers. In our journey so far, we have worked with top global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. We have, among other things, created a platform called C-Qwence, an antibody library derived for the first time from the Indian genome, by erasing all ethical consents, ‘he added.
Recently, the company also created a platform called Axtex-4D, which enables it to tackle human tumors in three dimensions. Overall, with all of these platforms, the goal is to reduce the time for discovery and development (D-Crypt and C-Qwence) and to test on the Axtex-4D platform, confirming the potential therapeutic process. The 3-D cell culture enables fast, combinatorial screens to treat candidates for oncology and immuno-oncology medications. The company has two collaborations in this space. This year, the company is looking forward to starting two more collaborations.
Premas Biotech still believes the D-Crypt platform has more potential in the vaccine area and continues to invest in its R&D to refine complex roles. This platform provided the most difficult target receptor for pain, which has significance in neuroscience.
Kundu added: ‘We are the first company to make a full-length card receptor. We have been working on this for the past three years. The company is actively looking at collaboration in pain relief by developing antibodies against it or small molecules. In the next 2-3 years we will have at least two collaborations in this space. ”
Setting up infrastructure
The company operates its facility in IMT-Manesar, Gurugram district of Haryana, and plans are underway to set up a second facility soon. It explores options in Manesar as well as other attractive places in India including Hyderabad.
“We have close ties with Hyderabad. We worked with a large biotechnology company in the city on several new technologies and are working with a few start-up companies and recently signed up with another company to develop an antibody. We have deep ties in the city and are considering actively considering certain parts of the country for our second facility, and Hyderabad is one of the biggest candidates, ”he added.
The company has begun talks with private equity and venture capital firms to meet the expansion needs. Premas needs significant investment and is stepping up efforts to raise money over the next 5-6 months, Kundu said.
Source: Telangana Today