Austrian Intercell affiliate aims to cut hospital infections

In November, Intercell licensed to Pelias its rights to certain antigens it believes can target pathogens associated with hospital-acquired infections. Under the agreement Intercell is to receive upfront and royalty payments on future product sales. For Intercell, the move lets it focus on its existing pharmaceutical partnerships, and on vaccine products for Japanese encephalitis and hepatitis. But it also, Intercell says, will help access more money for Pelias to develop the antigen system.

"It really is a severe problem with the number of infections in hospitals increasing over the last few years," said Mathias Grote, CEO of Pelias, in an interview. "There are data that say that the general financial burden for society resulting from hospital infection is up to $20 billion a year."

The WHO estimates that in developed countries 5 to 10 per cent of patients admitted to acute care hospitals acquire the infection. The rate in developing countries can exceed 25 per cent.

Pelias, which was founded by Intercell, Chiron, Parteurop, BioAlliance and Kapital&Wert Group, has started its business with key projects targeting three pathogens in hospital infections: Pseudomonas, Enterococcus and Klebsiella. They are bacterial infections, sometimes acquired by people in hospital care. They can cause a variety of disorders, notably pneumonia, urinary tract infections and sepsis.

The Pseudomonas product candidate is licensed from Chiron and has already gone through a Phase IIa clinical trial. For the Enterococcus and Klebsiella projects, Pelias is using Intercell’s Antigen Identification Program to identify novel protective antigens.

Grote said he expects Pelias’s first product to enter the market at the end of 2009 or in early 2010. The company has a plan to take the product to the markets of the US, Europe and selected Asian countries. "It only makes sense these days to have a global concept given its high development cost - with global clinical trials," said Grote.

Pelias has funding available already of up to €10 million, Grote said, so the additional fund-raising isn't urgent. Intercell CEO Gerd Zettlmeissl said the amount sought would be €15 million to €20 million.

The new investment is for running the clinical trials and to hire staff for them – but Grote said much of the work will be done through outside contractors. Pelias currently has five employees and is expected to grow to a 10 to a 25-person team in 2006, said Grote.