BiondVax Pharmaceuticals Ltd. announces that as part of its ongoing broad-based collaboration with the Max Planck Society and the University Medical Center Gottingen (UMG), it has signed an exclusive worldwide license agreement to develop and commercialize VHH antibodies (NanoAbs) targeting Interleukin-17 (IL-17) as treatments for all potential indications, starting with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Under the BiondVax-MPG-UMG research collaboration agreement, NanoAb candidates must satisfy rigorous criteria relating to binding affinity, neutralization of the target and other attributes prior to being in-licensed by BiondVax. An ex vivo proof-of-concept for psoriasis using the anti-IL-17 NanoAb in a psoriatic human skin model is expected later this year.

BiondVax plans to initiate a preclinical in vivo efficacy study in 2024 followed later by human clinical trials. As an initial target indication, BiondVax plans to test the antibody in humans with local, intradermal injections directly to psoriatic lesions to test the NanoAb's ability to provide a safe and affordable biologic treatment for mild to moderate psoriatic patients for whom the available mAbs are not authorized, and who represent 85% of plaque psoriasis cases. BiondVax is working on plans to develop the drug also as a subcutaneous injection for systemic treatment targeting patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

BiondVax's NanoAb platform targets treatments of diseases with large unmet medical needs and attractive commercial opportunities, such as COVID-19, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, asthma and macular degeneration. NanoAbs exhibit several advantages over conventional antibody treatments, including improved stability, increased potency and the potential for safer and more convenient routes of administration. The NanoAbs are being developed as part of a broad collaboration with the research institutes Max Planck Institute of Multidisciplinary Sciences and the University Medical Center Göttingen.

Recent positive preclinical in vivo data indicates BiondVax's innovative inhaled anti-SARS-CoV-2 NanoAb virtually prevented COVID-19 illness when administered prophylactically to hamsters. The results also demonstrated that when administered therapeutically, the inhaled NanoAb virtually eliminated the virus in lungs and led to a significantly shorter and milder illness. BiondVax's NanoAb platform has the potential to address a wide range of unmet medical needs, and the company is committed to developing innovative therapies that improve the lives of patients.