REYKJAVIK, ICELAND – April 17, 2023 – Akthelia Pharmaceuticals, a biopharma company, with a first-in-class immunotherapeutic approach, and the University of Iceland, are proud to announce the successful joint award of a €6 million EU Horizon Grant to fund the groundbreaking IN-ARMOR project. The project seeks to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a major global health threat identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top 10 health challenges of our time.

AMR and multi-drug resistance contribute to over 5 million deaths per year, with the potential to give rise to the next global pandemic as 'pan-drug' resistant strains emerge. As traditional antibiotics lose effectiveness, alternative therapeutic approaches are urgently needed.

"We are thrilled that our cutting-edge technology, developed in collaboration with the University of Iceland, has received this prestigious grant," said Egill Masson, CEO of Akthelia Pharma, "The IN-ARMOR project focuses on novel immune system inducers and is a testament to the potential of our approach to address the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance. The funding propels our ground-breaking research to address not only infections caused by bacteria but also inflammation and the challenge of viral and fungal infections, where fewer treatment options exist."

"I am delighted to collaborate with Akthelia Pharmaceuticals on this critical initiative," commented Professor Gudmundur Gudmundsson, Professor of Cell Biology at the University of Iceland and leading authority on innate immunology, "By focusing on enhancing innate immunology, we have the opportunity to move beyond traditional antibiotics towards next generation therapies that could revolutionize the way we combat antimicrobial resistance, ultimately protecting countless lives worldwide."

The IN-ARMOR project brings together nine universities, research institutes, and seven medical and industry partners across nine EU countries. The project's goal is to introduce a novel class of immune system inducers to enhance the body's innate microbial defense mechanisms, combating AMR and reducing the incidence of 13 of the most dangerous infections, including two of the top three priority-1 infections. Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding program for research and innovation with a budget of €95.5 billion.

Employing computer-aided drug design and in-silico approaches, alongside a nanotech-based drug delivery system, IN-ARMOR will optimize an existing drug platform for its first target indication. The therapy will undergo pre-clinical validation for safety and efficacy, meeting all investigational medicinal product requirements.

Upon completion, IN-ARMOR will advance to clinical validation, with the potential to save over 4 million lives worldwide and significantly reduce the burden of antibiotic development, leading to long-term cost reduction impact of €107BN and reduction in global disease burden of 97 million DALYs.

Akthelia Pharmaceuticals is committed to addressing the global threat of antimicrobial resistance and believes that the IN-ARMOR project is a vital step towards a healthier future.

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ABOUT AKTHELIA PHARMACEUTICALS

Akthelia Pharmaceuticals is a preclinical-stage biopharma company with a next-generation immunotherapeutic strategy to upregulate the innate immunology of epithelial surfaces. This novel approach has application potential to many areas of medicine and addresses the growing threat of antibiotic bacterial resistance (AMR) worldwide.

Akthelia’s lead therapeutic program upregulates the innate immunology in the GI tract, blocking leakage of microbiota to improve outcomes in cancer care through reducing the risk of neutropenia, a common and severe complication in chemotherapy and immunocompromised patients.

CONTACT

Egill Masson

CEO

egill.masson@aktheliapharma.com

Akthelia Pharmaceuticals

Grandagarði 16

101 Reykjavik

Iceland

Egill Másson and David Levinger participated in LSX Nordics (Life Science Leaders) in Copenhagen September 6-7th. Meetings with investors and networking with the life science, med-tech and health tech community. Nice to be back in person!

The second close of Akthelia's closed follow-up bridge funding round was over twice oversubscribed. Akthelia will now continue laying the necessary groundwork pursue funding for pre-IND enabling and Phase 1 studies..

Akthelia's founder Guðmundur Hrafn Guðmundsson was recently awarded a grant from the Icelandic Cancer Society to fund research into prophylactic therapies for febrile neutropenia..

More information on the Society's web site.

Rapid investment in new treatments, improved infection control measures, and optimised use of antibiotics are among the measures that can help countries protect their health systems against the threat of AMR.

Akthelia has secured a closed follow-up bridge funding round. 12 existing shareholders, bought shares for a total of 27 mISK.

The plan for the investment is to conduct further animal studies, define target product profile and position the company to be institutional investor ready.

Akthelia has enlisted Steingrímur Stefánsson in the role of Senior Scientist. Steingrímur (Stenni) finished a Ph.D. Degree in molecular biochemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1990 and has worked in senior roles for various biotech companies in the US since then. 

He has extensive experience in protein purification, protein modifications, protein-protein interactions, proteinases, their inhibitors. 

He also has a wide experience in cancer cell biology and assay development https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Steingrimur-Stefansson

Akathelia together with co-founder prof. Guðmundur Hrafn Guðmundsson has been awarded a RANNÍS grant from the Applied Research projects (Hagnýt rannsóknarverkefni) for the initial development of a novel wound healing technology. The total grant amounts to 45 mISK over three years.

Akthelia has closed an angel-led funding round. 12 new shareholders, many of whom are angel investors with pharma industry background, bought shares for a total of 31,5 mISK. In addition, Nýsköpunarsjóður atvinnulífsins extended and converted a bond amounting to 10,8 mISK to shares, bringing the total round to just over 42 mISK. 

We would like to thank the new shareholders for their trust and for joining us on our journey. Many of the new shareholders have a background in pharmaceutics and bring a valuable network along. The plan for the investment is to fund immediate value increasing activities for Akthelia, including preliminary tox and PK for AKT-013 and achieving proof of concept in an established animal model. However, in June 2019 RANNÍS selected Akthelia for a grant from their Vöxtur program. Total grant is 46 mISK over two years.  

RANNÍS has awarded Akthelia a grant from their Vöxtur program. Total grant is 46 mISK over two years. This grant increases greatly the scope of Akthelia’s development program. Akthelia’s main current goal is to show proof of concept in an established animal infection model. 

Akthelia has developed and patented a class of small molecules that modulate the body’s innate immunity, leading to elimination of bacteria and clearing of infections. Instead of administering antibiotics, Akthelia’s approach acts like a switch that turns on our innate antimicrobial defences and strengthens epithelial cell walls and has been shown to work against multiple pathogens, including resistant ones. The compounds might constitute the first broad spectrum antibiotic that does not negatively impact the body’s internal bacterial flora.

The focus of the 2019 Gordon Conference on Antimicrobial Peptides is utilizing our knowledge of mechanisms of AMP action, and mining species diversity to advance application to global infection challenges, including the threat of antimicrobial resistance, and sharing experience of translating fundamental research to commercial development and clinical practice.

Akthelia is strongly represented at this conference.