List of Antiviral Therapies Companies in Australia - 5

BioDiem is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on developing and commercialising vaccines and infectious disease therapies.

ImmVirX is an Australian company founded in 2019 with a mission to improve outcomes for patients with cancer types in which immunotherapy treatments have limited effect. The company is developing a bio-selected RNA virus to induce tumour inflammation and achieve immune cell infiltration via the RIG-I pathway. The targets for this approach are Ovarian, Head & Neck and those indications which present with liver metastases such as Colorectal, Hepatocellular carcinoma and Pancreatic cancer. The approach includes combination therapy with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and CAR-T agents using bio-selected RNA virus. The company founders, Malcolm McColl and Prof. Darren Shafren, were Managing Director and CSO of Viralytics, an ASX listed oncolytic virus company acquired in June 2018 by Merck and Co. Inc. for A$502 million. The ImmVirX team includes key management and researchers from Viralytics and is based at the former Viralytics laboratory facilities in Newcastle Australia.

Imugene is a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing a range of new and novel immunotherapies that seek to activate the immune system of cancer patients to treat and eradicate tumors. Our unique platform technologies seek to harness the body’s immune system against tumours, potentially achieving a similar or greater effect than synthetically manufactured monoclonal antibody and other immunotherapies. Our product pipeline includes multiple immunotherapy B-cell vaccine candidates and an oncolytic virotherapy (CF33) aimed at treating a variety of cancers in combination with standard of care drugs and emerging immunotherapies.

Island Pharmaceuticals is a drug research and repurposing company, focused on developing preventative or therapeutic drugs for viral infections. We have a lead asset – ISLA-101 - that was initially developed by our wholly owned subsidiary, Isla Pharmaceuticals. ISLA-101 is a drug with a well-established safety profile, being repurposed for the prevention and treatment of dengue fever and other mosquito (or vector) borne diseases.

Sementis Ltd is an Australian unlisted public biotechnology company based in Adelaide, South Australia and dedicated to research and development of new vaccines to tackle viruses and diseases globally. Sementis conducts it's research and development activities in partnership with the University of South Australia. We are using our proprietary Sementis Copenhagen Vector (SCV) and associated manufacturing system for the rapid development of effective vaccines to tackle infectious diseases of highest unmet medical needs as well as vaccines for pandemic preparedness. Our vaccine technology is also under evaluation for the prevention of allergies, with potential future applications also in cancer. Our lead vaccine candidates including a combination Zika-Chikungunya vaccine, a 'second generation' COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutic vaccine for peanut allergy. The SCV system couples a genetically engineered, non-replicative viral vector with a genetically engineered commercial manufacturing cell-line. The genes of disease antigens can be easily added to the viral vector, allowing for rapid adaptation of the vaccine against a single or multiple diseases and then manufacture on a commercial scale. The SCV is derived from a vaccinia virus strain used to eradicate smallpox, and concerns about safety have been addressed through our targeted genetic attenuation, thus making SCV vectored vaccines safe for use. Vaccines made using SCV are grown in our proprietary Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells, an industry standard cell line for large scale manufacturing with high yield and consistent batch quality. Extensive advanced pre-clinical studies have shown that vaccines using the SCV platform are safe and efficacious after a single vaccination, eliciting potent T and B-cell immunity, and long lasting protective vaccine immune response. We are now focussed on final GLP toxicology and immunogenicity studies in preparation for first in-human Phase I clinical trials.