2020-10-27 09:36 ET - News Release
Dr. Armand Balboni reports
APPILI THERAPEUTICS ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR ITS ATI-1701 BIODEFENSE PROGRAM
Appili Therapeutics Inc. has provided updates for the continued development of its ATI-1701 biodefence vaccine program. Appili has entered into an agreement with Ology Bioservices, a biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), under which Ology will manufacture ATI-1701, a novel live attenuated tularemia vaccine candidate. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), through the Joint Science and Technology Office of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), awarded Ology Bioservices $6.3-million (U.S.) for ATI-1701 manufacturing and development work under contract No. MCDC18-04-13-006. DTRA-funded manufacturing work will be used to provide vaccine supply for future development of Appili's ATI-1701 program.
"Tularemia is a potentially deadly biological weapon for which there is no approved vaccine. ATI-1701 has the potential to address this critical biodefence gap and we are eager to start the next stage of its development," said Dr. Armand Balboni, chief executive officer of Appili Therapeutics. "We are grateful for the work of our partners Ology Bioservices and MRI-Global, along with the continued support from DTRA, to address this urgent need."
Appili is developing ATI-1701 as a vaccine to combat Francisella tularensis, which the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines as a Category A pathogen (an organism that poses the highest risk to national security and public health). As it is 1,000 times more infectious than anthrax, experts consider the aerosolized form to have a high-potential use in a bioterrorist attack. Several countries may already have operational weapon programs leveraging this pathogen, making the need for a vaccine to counter this biological weapon threat exceedingly important. Appili is developing ATI-1701 under the Animal Rule regulatory pathway.
About Appili Therapeutics Inc.
Appili Therapeutics was founded to advance the global fight against infectious disease by matching clearly defined patient needs with drug development programs that provide solutions to existing challenges patients, doctors and society face in this critical disease space. Appili has built a pipeline of assets designed to address a broad range of significant unmet medical needs in the infectious disease landscape. This diverse pipeline aims to address some of the most urgent threats in global public health, including ATI-2307, a novel, broad-spectrum, clinical-stage anti-fungal candidate in development for severe and difficult-to-treat invasive fungal infections; ATI-1701, a vaccine candidate for tularemia, a very serious biological weapon threat; ATI-1503, a drug discovery program aimed at generating a novel class of antibiotics with broad-spectrum activity against gram-negative superbugs; and ATI-1501, which employs Appili's proprietary, taste-masked, oral-suspension technology with metronidazole for the growing number of patients with difficulty swallowing. In addition, the company is also testing FFTC's drug favipiravir for the prevention of COVID-19 as a potential prophylaxis treatment. Headquartered in Halifax, N.S., with offices in Toronto, Ont., Appili is pursuing worldwide opportunities in collaboration with scientific and industry commercial partners, governments, and government agencies.
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