Stablepharma secures Innovate UK grant, bridge funding round to launch

Stablepharma Ltd awarded a second Innovate UK Grant, in partnership with the University Hospital of Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, as they commence a bridge-funding round in Q4 2023.
This joint Innovate UK grant will contribute to the progress of Stablepharma’s SPVX02, a fridge-free vaccine for the prevention of Tetanus diphtheria, validating its safety and efficacy through first-in-human clinical trials.

“This is a great endorsement of the work our R&D team are doing to achieve Stablepharma’s vision of making fridge-free vaccines a reality’, said Özgür Tuncer, CEO & Executive Director. ‘As we know, there are vast challenges within the global cold chain which hinder the efficient distribution and storage of vaccine. ‘Tetanus, for example, remains an important public health problem where immunisation coverage is low and several countries in the world still do not provide tetanus booster shots to protect their populations throughout life”, added Özgür.

Professor Saul Faust OBE, of NHS University Hospital of Southampton, will lead and conduct the delivery of the clinical trials for the SPVX02 (Td) vaccine. ‘’Project success has the tremendous potential for eradicating vaccine wastage and moving away from the need for the cold-chain - this will have huge benefits that will ultimately provide greater safety and effectiveness for vaccines’’, said Professor Faust.

Stablepharma’s technology platform, StablevaX™ converts existing approved vaccines to fridge-free status. By creating pre-dosed and thermostable vaccines, it will ensure safe, efficient and waste-free delivery without the need for the often-unreliable cold chain.

“As we progress towards first-in-human clinical trials for SPVX02, we are delighted to welcome Dr Karen O’Hanlon to the Stablepharma team as Head of Clinical Development’, said Özgür. ‘Karen, having been VP of Clinical Operations for Alan Boyd Consultants, our long-term regulatory advisor, will lead the clinical trials with Professor Faust”.

Stablepharma Ltd recently announced that it will commence a bridge-funding round in Q4 2023 to progress the launch of SPVX02 (Td), a second fridge-free vaccine SPVX06 (Tetanus mono) and their mRNA research programme. “Although these are challenging times economically, we continue to see an increased level of interest from investors, shareholders, partners and vaccine manufacturers in our fridge-free vaccine technology, StablevaX™”, said Özgür Tuncer.

Stablepharma’s R&D team have identified up to 60 vaccine candidates that could be suitable for StablevaX™ technology. By eliminating the need for cold-chain transportation, distribution and storage, StablevaX™ will dramatically increase the availability of existing and new vaccines to patient populations globally’.

Stablepharma actively partners with global vaccine manufacturers, academic institutions and NGOs. Stablepharma has in place a manufacturing agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific [NYSE:TMO]  for the GMP manufacture of SPVX02. There are currently no fridge-free vaccine solutions on the marketplace.