Trinity College Dublin spin-out Opsona signs deal with CSL

Collaboration

Autoimmune and inflammatory diseases specialist Opsona Ltd has signed a research and collaboration agreement with the specialty biopharmaceutical company CSL Limited to identify novel vaccine adjuvant formulations, using Opsona’s proprietary technology OpsoVac.

Under the agreement Opsona will receive undisclosed upfront payments and will be eligible for additional milestone and royalty payments should CSL elect to pursue formulations that result from the collaboration.

Mark Heffernan, CEO of Opsona, said, “CSL has an excellent track record in the field of vaccines and today’s announcement is a significant validation of the OpsoVac technology.”

OpsoVac was developed at Trinity College Dublin by Kingston Mills, Head of the School of Biochemistry and Immunology, and a co-founder of Opsona. Mills has identified a novel Toll-like Receptor (TLR) platform involving the co-administration of a TLR agonist with molecules that inhibit regulatory T-cells. Depletion of regulatory T-cells has been shown to enhance anti-tumour immunity in disease models.

Andrew Cuthbertson, chief scientific officer of CSL, said, “Inhibition of regulatory T-cells is a promising approach to enhancing the effectiveness of both cancer immuno-therapeutics and vaccines against chronic infectious diseases such as hepatitis and influenza.”

Just last week, Opsona announced the completion of a €18 million fundraising supported by Novartis Venture Fund, Fountain Healthcare Partners, Inventages Venture Capital and Seroba BioVentures.