Seed capital for ACM Biosciences to advance COVID-19 vaccine into clinical trials

With headquarters in Basel, ACM Biosciences secured the exclusive worldwide license to the proprietary polymersome platform to develop human infectious disease vaccines from ACM Biolabs Pte Ltd in Singapore, which is a leader in protein vaccines and novel nanoparticle delivery techniques in the oncology and veterinary fields.

The proprietary Artificial Cell Membranes (ACMs) are based on an innovative nanotechnology platform using non-immunogenic polymersomes as its carrier. Through past developments by ACM Biolabs, the ACM polymersome platform has been shown to produce a safe and efficacious veterinary vaccine against porcine epidemic diarrhoea, a highly contagious and deadly coronavirus in pigs, for which there is no effective commercial vaccine. By working closely together, the Singapore and Swiss entities have developed a protein-based COVID-19 vaccine which shows an excellent immune response in preclinical trials. 

ACM Biosciences technology allows great variability because its polymersome platform is highly customisable and can be made compatible with different vaccine formats, including mRNA and protein antigens. A formulation with polymersomes also enables a vaccine to be delivered intranasally, which is a convenient administration route but can reduce transmissibility by activating mucosal immunity. Furthermore, polymersomes do not suffer from vector neutralising antibodies, are very stable for easy storage and shipping and do not need a complex cold chain. And they can be manufactured cost-effective and with scale. As such, the platform allows quick adjustability to new strains and is well suited for repetitive use and applications.

With the necessary financial resources secured, ACM Biosciences will accelerate its development of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate and proceed with the running mRNA vaccine proof of concept stability and immunogenicity studies. 

Peter Moran, CEO of ACM Biosciences, commented: “With the great results we have seen so far from our technology in animal health, this financing is a key step in our strategy and will provide the necessary financial resources to progress both the COVID-19 vaccine candidate into clinical trials and the mRNA proof of concept stability and immunogenicity study.”

“ACM Biosciences’ technology has the potential to bring a step-change in manufacturability, and durability of vaccines, something which is urgently needed for a long-term solution to COVID-19, but also other vaccine-preventable diseases. Their preclinical efficacy data are fascinating, and their vaccine candidate should be taken into clinical trials as quickly as possible.”

(Press release)