Phoreus Biotech wins Animal Health Innovation USA Innovation Showcase for Production Animals
Category: Press Release
OLATHE, KS, June 24, 2021 – Phoreus Biotechnology, a leading provider of next-generation peptide nanocarriers, has won the Animal Health Innovation USA Innovation Showcase at the virtual event which took place June 15-16, 2021.
The event featured 20 presenting companies that were split into two distinguishable sections: companion animal and production animal. Torigen Pharmaceuticals won in the companion animal & pet care category and Phoreus Biotech won in the production animal category.
The live audience also voted for their favorite start-ups with PetDX taking the People’s Choice Award in the companion animal category and Phoreus Biotech also winning the People’s Choice Award in the production animal category.
“We were honored to be among the ten finalists selected to participate in the production animal division of the competition,” said Randall Tosh, Phoreus Chief Executive Officer. “It was clear that our presentation on mRNA and the future of veterinary vaccines resonated with both the judges and audience members, as both groups recognized the important role our nanocarrier platforms will play in enabling new mRNA veterinary vaccines.”
As the success of the recent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines demonstrates, this new technology also allows animal health companies to develop safe and effective vaccines in record time. Every new mRNA vaccine requires a nanoparticle carrier to successfully deliver components to antigen-producing cells to create an immune response. Successful vaccine developers currently rely on lipid-based carriers and with that comes many well-publicized struggles with keeping the vaccines at significant sub-zero temperatures during transport and storage.
In addition to thermal instability, lipid carriers are known to be toxic to cells and trigger negative immune responses, both of which lead to loss of efficacy and unpleasant side effects as demonstrated recently in the COVID pandemic. Phoreus nanocarriers are a simple and more cost-effective way to deliver this new mRNA technology without causing negative immune system responses and allowing vaccines to remain stable at room temperature.
The peptide nanocarriers produced by Phoreus Biotech are positioned to drive the next generation of genetic medicine and offers substantial increases in the efficacy of existing veterinary drugs and therapeutics. They are a bioscience disruptor with two patented nanocarrier platforms: Branched Amphipathic Peptide Capsules (BAPC™) and Corralling Amphipathic Peptide Colloids (CAPC™). These nanocarriers can revolutionize vaccine development, cancer therapeutics, small molecule delivery, and gene editing/therapy.
“With proof-of-concept data already in hand, Phoreus Biotech is now engaged in a number of industry partnerships for development of the new animal vaccines and therapeutics,” said Dr. Michael Coe, Phoreus Chief Scientific Officer. “We have a draft term sheet in place with one of the top five animal health companies to deliver on the promise of a new line of robust nucleic acid vaccines delivered by BAPC through a global licensing agreement.”
Animal Health Innovation USA will return in 2022. It hosts senior decision makers from big pharma, venture capital and angel investors to showcase the most exciting investment opportunities in animal health, across all species.
Press contact for Phoreus Biotech:
Brian Tosh
Director of Marketing
brian.tosh@phoreusbiotech.com
913.307.7364