Providence, Rhode Island, October 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Marine Biomedical Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: OCEA), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to accelerating the development of compelling discoveries by leading research scientists, today announced that its joint venture partner Virion Therapeutics, LLC has become Currently enrolling patients in its Phase 1b study for first-in-class treatment of chronic hepatitis B (Clinicaltrials.gov #NCT06070051) Additional sites in the United States will become available in Hong Kong and New Zealand later this year.
VRON-0200, the first clinical-stage drug candidate from Ocean and Virion’s joint venture (JV), is designed to control infections without the need for antiviral drugs by using a proprietary novel checkpoint modifier for early T-cell activation. The study will also inform and accelerate the advancement of other IND-enabling activities in the joint venture’s pipeline, including VRON-0300 for the treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors.
“We are pleased that our joint venture with Virion has achieved its first major clinical milestone in enrolling patients in two countries, particularly for a disease that has no cure and affects millions of people around the world,” he said. Elizabeth Ng, CEO of Ocean.
chronic hepatitis B
Despite preventive vaccines, chronic hepatitis B (HBV) cases continue to increase, An estimated 296 million people worldwide are infected and 820,000 people die every year Avoid hepatitis B-related liver complications. Chronic hepatitis B remains a global health problem, with no cure and high medical needs. Current standards of care require lifelong antiviral treatment to control the virus.Treatments that control or clear infections without antiviral drugs are in high demand and can be captured The global market is expected to be worth over US$6.5 billion* by 2032.
joint venture partnership
October 11, 2023 Ocean acquires 50% stake in Virion Therapeutics through joint venture This includes all current and future Virion development plans. Ocean will provide Virion with access to larger enterprise resources such as legal, finance, administration, human resources and investor relations to help support operations as Virion explores additional strategic transactions in the future as market conditions warrant. The goal. This is Ocean Biomedical’s first joint venture and advances one of the pillars of Ocean’s business model: growing assets by finding exciting companies and technologies to partner with to help bring innovative treatments to patients around the world.
“We are pleased to enter into this partnership with Ocean Biomedical and work together to help expand and accelerate our clinical development programs, including VRON-0200, which we are now enrolling, with the shared goal of bringing novel treatments to patients method,” he commented Dr. Sue Currie, Chief Operating Officer, Virion.
Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, Ocean Chairnoted: “Patient enrollment is a major clinical and commercial value inflection point for our company. Data from companies in the chronic HBV treatment space, which is at a similar stage to our joint venture’s VRON-0200 study, has seen a significant increase in its value. For example, VIR The value of biotechnology Increased by more than $3.6 billion after they reported phase 1 data from their initial 8 patients. We look forward to seeing preliminary Phase 1b data from 12 patients early next year. “Ocean is pleased to partner with Virion to provide chronic hepatitis B patients around the world with this high-demand, high-value treatment aimed at achieving a functional cure.”
About VRON-0200
VRON-0200 is a therapeutic immunotherapy administered via intramuscular injection designed to provide functional cure for chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Although the virus itself stimulates HBV-specific CD8+ T cells, for patients who are unable to clear the initial infection, their T cells quickly become depleted, limiting their ability to proliferate and control the virus. Preclinical data support the hypothesis that VRON-0200, through checkpoint modification, can amplify, expand, and enhance T cell responses to include T cells that are not normally activated during chronic HBV infection, thereby improving viral control.
About marine biomedicine
Ocean Biomedical, Inc. is a Providence, Rhode Island-based biopharmaceutical company whose innovative business model accelerates the development and commercialization of scientifically compelling assets at research universities and medical centers. Marine Biomedicine leverages funding and expertise to efficiently move new treatment candidates from the laboratory to the clinic and into the world. Ocean Biomedical is currently developing five promising discoveries that have the potential to deliver life-changing results in the prevention and treatment of lung cancer, brain cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, and malaria. Marine biomedical teams are working to solve some of the world’s toughest problems for the people who need help most.
To learn more, visit www.oceanbiomedical.com.
About Virion Therapy
Virion Therapeutics, LLC is a clinical-stage company developing novel T cell-based immunotherapies to treat cancer and chronic infectious diseases utilizing proprietary genetically encoded checkpoint modifiers (CPMs) to enhance and expand CD8+ T cell responses to tumors or chronic infections. Virion was founded in early 2018 and has since developed a strong pipeline, including its lead clinical program VRON-0200, as well as several other IND-supported programs, including VRON-0300 for advanced solid tumors leveraging its proprietary platform technology. academic projects.
To learn more, please visit www.VirionTx.com
forward-looking statements
The information contained herein and any oral statements made on behalf of Ocean Biomedical, Inc. (the “Company”) or other information relating thereto include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Safe Harbor provisions of 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of the Year. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “will,” “expect” and other words. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target” or other similar expressions predict or indicate future events or trends or are statements that are not historical events, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding estimates and projections of financial and performance metrics and expectations; the expected timing and success of IND filings for our initial product candidates; statements regarding the expected timing of our IND-enabling studies; the filing of additional INDs frequency and timing; expectations regarding the availability of future assets and additions to our pipeline; the strengths of any of our pipeline assets and platforms; the potential benefits of our product candidates; potential commercial opportunities; the timing of key milestones in our plans; the future our financial condition, results of operations, business strategies and plans, and management’s objectives for future strategies and operations; and statements regarding industry trends and other companies in the industry. These forward-looking statements are based on various assumptions (whether or not identified herein) and the current expectations of the Company’s management and are not predictions of current performance. These forward-looking statements are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be, and shall not be relied upon by, any investor as a guarantee, guarantee, prediction or express statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from those hypothesized.
Any findings announced by the company are based solely on laboratory and animal studies. The company has not conducted any studies showing similar efficacy or safety in humans. There is no guarantee that any treatment tested by the Company will prove safe or effective in humans, and any clinical benefit from any such treatment is subject to clinical trials and final FDA approval for use in patients. If approved, it could be years away.
Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and therefore involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are beyond the company’s control, that may cause current circumstances to Results or results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider the above factors and other risks and uncertainties described in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and the company’s subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other filings. The Company files reports with the SEC from time to time, which are available at www.sec.gov. These documents identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements we make. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s assessment as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Therefore, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.
Contact information:
Marine Biopharmaceutical Investor Relations
(email protected)
Kevin Kercher
communications director
Virion Therapeutics LLC
Dr. Sue Currie
chief operating officer
(email protected)
*According to “Hepatitis B Market (By Type: Acute, Chronic; By Treatment: Immunomodulatory Drugs, Antiviral Drugs, Vaccines, Surgery (Liver Transplant); By Distribution Channel: Hospitals and Retail Pharmacies, Online Pharmacies) – Global Industry Analysis” Report, size, share, growth, trends, regional outlook and forecast 2023-2032. ” Precedence Research, April 2023. https://www.precedenceresearch.com/hepatitis-b-market.
