AlgiPharma secures 22 MNOK in non-dilutive funding for development of its antimicrobial alginate oligosaccharide technology, with the goal to enhance fighting multidrug resistance.

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AlgiPharma has been awarded up to NOK 16 million from the Norwegian Research Councils Innovation Project for the Industrial Sector program for the project “Therapeutic Alginates for Resistant and Recurrent Infections: Generating Eradication Therapies (TARRGET)”. The project grant awarded from the Research Council combined with the Norwegian government tax incentive scheme (SkatteFUNN) results in a total award value for AlgiPharma of about NOK 22 million (about EUR 2.2 MM / USD 2.5 MM).

The project will last for 3 years and will involve the development of new product candidates based on its proprietary alginate oligosaccharide technology to enhance the properties of antimicrobial therapeutics. The project is expected to improve the bioavailability and efficacy of therapeutics to their target sites, allowing for improved dosing regimens for the patient, while also reducing the potential for drug toxicity, resistance, and tolerance. The project will provide AlgiPharma with novel candidates for pharmaceutical and biomedical uses, while also contributing to the stimulation of new market opportunities.

 

About AlgiPharma AS:

AlgiPharma AS is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, founded in 2006 on decades of research and development carried out by FMC BioPolymer AS and the Institute of Biotechnology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. AlgiPharma has completed 5 clinical trials with two formulations of its lead drug candidate, OligoG, to treat respiratory symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

AlgiPharma owns or licenses all relevant patents upon which the technology platform and products are developed. The company is supported by national and international research programs, and collaborates with a network of key opinion leaders, highly recognized academic institutions, research and patient organizations in Europe and USA.

AlgiPharma has received more than USD 46 million in research and development grants from EU’s 7th framework program, Horizon 2020, and Eurostars programs, the Norwegian Research Council, Innovate UK, US Army through Congressional Earmark funding, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF).

AlgiPharma is a privately owned company registered and domiciled in Norway.

For additional information contact:

Yngvar P. Berg, CEO: yngvar.berg@algipharma.com

Arne Dessen, COO and Chairman of the Board: arne.dessen@algipharma.com

AlgiPharma awarded 16 MNOK grant from the Norwegian Research Council’s Innovation Project for the Industrial Sector program.

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AlgiPharma has been awarded up to NOK 16 million from the Norwegian Research Councils Innovation Project for the Industrial Sector program for the project “Fermentation Scaleup for Manufacturing of Pharmaceutical Alginate Oligosaccharides (Algi-SCALEUP).”

The project will last for 3 years and will demonstrate commercial scale production of alginate oligomers of pharmaceutical quality through large scale cost-effective microbial fermentation with concomitant large-scale downstream processing. The project will provide AlgiPharma with an alternative source of high-grade alginates for pharmaceutical and biomedical uses, while also contributing to the stimulation of new market opportunities.

 

About AlgiPharma AS:

AlgiPharma AS is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, founded in 2006 on decades of research and development carried out by FMC BioPolymer AS and the Institute of Biotechnology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. AlgiPharma has completed 5 clinical trials with two formulations of its lead drug candidate, OligoG, to treat respiratory symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

AlgiPharma owns or licenses all relevant patents upon which the technology platform and products are developed. The company is supported by national and international research programs, and collaborates with a network of key opinion leaders, highly recognized academic institutions, research and patient organizations in Europe and USA.

AlgiPharma has received more than USD 37 million in research and development grants from EU’s 7th framework program, Horizon 2020, and Eurostars programs, the Norwegian Research Council, Innovate UK, US Army through Congressional Earmark funding, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF). Please see latest award from CFF.

AlgiPharma is a privately owned company registered and domiciled in Norway.

For additional information contact:

Yngvar P. Berg, CEO: yngvar.berg@algipharma.com

Arne Dessen, COO and Chairman of the Board: arne.dessen@algipharma.com

Innovation Award Winner for 2018

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AlgiPharma’s Cystic Fibrosis drug candidate OligoG awarded pivotal trial grant of €6 million from EU’s Horizon 2020 programme

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An EU Horizon 2020 proposal (OligoGpivotalCF) submitted by a consortium assembled by AlgiPharma, has been successful in winning a grant of EUR 6 million to support AlgiPharma’s cystic fibrosis drug candidate OligoG through a pivotal clinical trial program.

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AlgiPharma receives up to an additional $3 million from the US Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF)

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AlgiPharma AS announced an agreement with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF), Bethesda, MD., that will provide up to $3 million to support further research and development of AlgiPharma’s drug candidate (OligoG) for the treatment of people with cystic fibrosis. This is in addition to more than $11.5 million already received from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for Phase 2 clinical work.

OligoG is an alginate oligosaccharide derived from seaweed, and is a new class of drug being developed to help people with cystic fibrosis clear stagnant and highly viscous mucus from their lungs. It is anticipated that OligoG will help to slow progression of the disease.

In a previous clinical 2b trial the primary efficacy endpoint (improved lung function as measured by FEV1, or forced expiratory volume in 1 second) was not achieved at 28 days across the entire study population. However, more detailed analyses showed that several subgroups demonstrated significant improvement in FEV1, showing more than 9% improvement in lung function by day 28, with further improvement in the subsequent washout period. A new clinical trial is being planned to optimize dosing to match these subgroups, which represent the majority of the CF patient population.

AlgiPharma has to date completed five clinical trials with a total safety population of 169 subjects, and has demonstrated an exemplary safety record.

Yngvar P. Berg, CEO of AlgiPharma, commented on the award: “We are honored and delighted that the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation recognizes the unique therapeutic potential of our drug candidate by further supporting the development of OligoG. The award from the CFF will be complementary to EUR 6 million from its EU Horizon 2020 grant (‘OligoGpivotalCF’) to perform a pivotal clinical trial program with OligoG. This CFF award enables us to accelerate the development of OligoG, and we really appreciate working with the Foundation on the remaining development path in bringing this new drug to people with cystic fibrosis.”

 

About Cystic Fibrosis:

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening disease that affects the lungs and digestive system and impacts about 70,000 people worldwide. CF is caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene which results in either no CFTR protein or an abnormal CFTR protein that does not function properly. The presence or absence of this dysfunctional protein causes the body to accumulate excessive levels of unusually thick mucus in the lungs, which becomes a site for infections that can require hospitalization. Respiratory distress in CF (defined as acute difficulty in breathing, infection and/or hospitalization) is most commonly related to mucus accumulation and lung infections that result in damage to lung tissue.

For more information on CF, please visit the individual websites at CFF, ECFS, CF-EUROPE

 

About AlgiPharma AS:

AlgiPharma AS is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, founded in 2006 on decades of research and development carried out by FMC BioPolymer AS and the Institute of Biotechnology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. AlgiPharma has completed 5 clinical trials with two formulations of its lead drug candidate, OligoG, to treat respiratory symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

AlgiPharma owns or licenses all relevant patents upon which the technology platform and products are developed. The company is supported by national and international research programs, and collaborates with a network of key opinion leaders, highly recognized academic institutions, research and patient organizations in Europe and USA.

AlgiPharma has received more than USD 37 million in research and development grants from EU’s 7th framework program, Horizon 2020, and Eurostars programs, the Norwegian Research Council, Innovate UK, US Army through Congressional Earmark funding, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF). Please see latest award from CFF.

AlgiPharma is a privately owned company registered and domiciled in Norway.

For additional information contact:

Yngvar P. Berg, CEO: yngvar.berg@algipharma.com

Arne Dessen, COO and Chairman of the Board: arne.dessen@algipharma.com

Click here for a pdf version of this press release.

 

AlgiPharma awarded 4 year grant from the Norwegian Research Council’s NANO2021 programme

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AlgiPharma has been awarded up to NOK 10 million from the Norwegian Research Council for the project “Novel alginate oligomer products for enhanced delivery across mucosal barriers (Mucos-ALG)”.

The underlying idea for the project is to establish and optimize the design of alginate oligomers to enhance the delivery of drugs and small molecules across mucosal barriers. The project requires a combination of R&D skills and these requirements will be met through a consortium of international partners, many of whom have already worked successfully with AlgiPharma on previous R&D projects.

It is expected that the project will provide new alginate oligomer based products enabling more effective mucosal delivery for therapeutics in CF, COPD, infection and wound care.

 

About AlgiPharma AS:

AlgiPharma AS is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, founded in 2006 on decades of research and development carried out by FMC BioPolymer AS and the Institute of Biotechnology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. AlgiPharma has completed 5 clinical trials with two formulations of its lead drug candidate, OligoG, to treat respiratory symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

AlgiPharma owns or licenses all relevant patents upon which the technology platform and products are developed. The company is supported by national and international research programs, and collaborates with a network of key opinion leaders, highly recognized academic institutions, research and patient organizations in Europe and USA.

AlgiPharma has received more than USD 37 million in research and development grants from EU’s 7th framework program, Horizon 2020, and Eurostars programs, the Norwegian Research Council, Innovate UK, US Army through Congressional Earmark funding, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF). Please see latest award from CFF.

AlgiPharma is a privately owned company registered and domiciled in Norway.

For additional information contact:

Yngvar P. Berg, CEO: yngvar.berg@algipharma.com

Arne Dessen, COO and Chairman of the Board: arne.dessen@algipharma.com

AlgiPharma collaboration with Cardiff University wins Medical Innovation Award

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A long standing collaboration between AlgiPharma and Professor David Thomas team at the School of Dentistry has been recognized this year by Cardiff University’s prestigious Medical Innovation Award. The award was presented by Dr. Rob Docherty on behalf of Cardiff University.

 

 

Click here for more information and link to the video

 

 

 

(Left to Right) Dr. Manon Pritchard (Cardiff), Dr. Phil Rye (AlgiPharma), Dr Rob Docherty (presenting the award), Prof. David Thomas (Cardiff), Dr. Katja Hill (Cardiff), Dr. Saira Khan (Cardiff), Mr Arne Dessen (AlgiPharma), Dr. Lydia Powell (Cardiff).

 

AlgiPharma Announces $4 Million Award from Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics to Advance Clinical Development of OligoG

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Sandvika, Norway, June 3, 2016. AlgiPharma AS today announced an agreement with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics Inc. (CFFT), Bethesda, Md., to help fund the development of its inhalable dry powder, OligoG, which has been shown to improve the properties of mucus from the CF lungs and the effectiveness of some antibiotics in early research studies. Research to date suggests that OligoG will help people with cystic fibrosis clear mucus from their lungs and potentially slow the progression of the disease.

To expedite development of OligoG for people with cystic fibrosis, CFFT committed more than $4 million to AlgiPharma. This is in addition to almost $6.9 million that CFFT has awarded so far for a Phase 2 clinical trial, bringing CFFT’s commitment to nearly $11 million.

CFFT is the nonprofit drug discovery and development arm of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

AlgiPharma is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials with OligoG as a dry powder for inhalation. Two clinical trials are ongoing in Europe (recruiting in UK, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway) evaluating the safety and tolerability of OligoG, and include primary endpoints to assess efficacy in individuals with CF.

OligoG works to return thick, sticky mucus toward normal, allowing it to be cleared more easily from the lungs. OligoG also may disrupt the infectious biofilm often present in the lungs of individuals with CF. Biofilm disruption might also improve antibiotic effectiveness by increasing exposure of bacteria to antibiotics.

Yngvar P. Berg, CEO of AlgiPharma, commented on the award: “We are honored and delighted that Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics recognizes the unique therapeutic potential of our drug candidate by further supporting the development of OligoG. This CFFT award enables us to accelerate the clinical development of OligoG, and we really appreciate working with CFFT on the remaining clinical development path in bringing this new drug to people with cystic fibrosis.”

About Cystic Fibrosis:

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening disease that affects the lungs and digestive system and impacts about 70,000 people worldwide. CF is caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene which results in either no CFTR protein or an abnormal CFTR protein that does not function properly. The presence or absence of this dysfunctional protein causes the body to accumulate excessive levels of unusually thick mucus in the lungs. This excessive sticky mucus in the lungs becomes a site for infections that can require hospitalization. Respiratory distress in CF — defined as acute difficulty in breathing, infection and/or hospitalization — is most commonly related to mucus accumulation and lung infections that result in damage to lung tissue.

For more information on CF, please visit www.cff.org.

About AlgiPharma AS:

AlgiPharma AS is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, based on research and development carried out by FMC BioPolymer AS and the Biopolymer Foundation at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, over decades. AlgiPharma was founded in August 2006.

AlgiPharma’s aim is to address unmet medical needs, fighting diseases effectively through its innovative alginate oligomer technologies, by developing products and therapies to market or license to suitable partners.

AlgiPharma AS owns or licenses all relevant patents upon which the technology platform and products are developed.

AlgiPharma AS is supported by national and international research programs, and collaborates with a network of key opinion leaders, highly recognized academic institutions, research and patient organizations in Europe and USA.

AlgiPharma AS is a privately owned company registered and domiciled in Norway. For additional information, please visit www.algipharma.com

 

Contact:

Yngvar P. Berg, CEO: +47 67545770,  yngvar.berg@algipharma.com

June 3rd 2016

A pdf of this press release can be found here: AlgiPharma press release June 3, 2016

A Norwegian version of this press release can be found here: AlgiPharma press release June 3, 2016 Norwegian

The CFFT press release can be found here: CFFT press release June 3, 2016.

AlgiPharma awarded four year grant from Norwegian Research Council

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AlgiPharma has been awarded a new four year grant from the Norwegian Research Council for the project “Treatment of Chronic Infective Disease with Alginate Oligomer Based Formulations”. This study will focus on extended long term safety studies and formulation changes to further develop the AlgiPharma drug candidate OligoG for the treatment of cystic fibrosis.

For further information, please contact:
Arne Dessen, Chairman of Board; arne.dessen@algipharma.com
Philip D. Rye R&D Director; phil.rye@algipharma.com

February 2015

Technology Strategy Board (Innovate UK) & Innovation Norway – New Funding Success

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Building on the previous success with the AlgiFerm project, AlgiPharma, together with leading experts in fermentation at the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI, Redcar, UK), FMC Biopolymer, and SINTEF have secured additional funding from the UK’s Technology Strategy Board (now Innovate UK) and Innovation Norway for further investigation on microbial production of AlgiPharma’s promising new alginate oligomer drug candidate, OligoG. The study will focus on developing methods for scaling-up microbial fermentation production of OligoG at CPI.

The project, ALGIPRO, is an innovative collaborative effort between Norway and the UK. It will translate over 20 years of academic research into an industrial scale production process for alginates. The Centre for Process Innovation Ltd. (UK) is leading the scale-up based on development by SINTEF (Norway). AlgiPharma AS (Norway) will use the product as the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient in its development of medicines for cystic fibrosis, COPD and chronic wounds. FMC Biopolymer (UK, Norway) will market the product in existing and new applications within the food and pharmaceutical markets. If successful ALGIPRO  will facilitate the introduction of novel medicinal products to the market that will ease patient suffering and potentially reduce healthcare costs. In addition it will be a new tool in fighting multi-drug resistant bacteria. The project is funded through a joint UK-Norwegian initiative between the Technology Strategy Board and Innovation Norway.

For further information, please contact:
Arne Dessen, Executive Chairman; arne.dessen@algipharma.com
Philip D. Rye R&D Director; phil.rye@algipharma.com

November 2014