Adjuvance Technologies Announces Issuance of U.S. Patent Covering Semi-Synthetic Saponin Adjuvants

Adjuvance Technologies Inc., a privately-held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next generation saponin adjuvants and vaccines for infectious disease and immuno-oncology, today announced the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued U.S. Patent No. 10,906,926. The patent is directed to triterpene saponin analogues, specifically Adjuvance’s next generation saponin adjuvant TQL-1055, which exhibits improved adjuvant activity and reduced toxicity as compared to QS-21.

U.S. Patent No. 10,906,926 protects the TQL-1055 composition of matter, pharmaceutical compositions incorporating TQL-1055, methods of using TQL-1055 for immunization against infections, and methods for obtaining TQL-1055. The patent includes 21 claims and follows issuance of similar patents in certain other countries around the world.

The patent has been assigned to Adjuvance and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, USA), where advanced synthetic saponin technology was first developed. Adjuvance exclusively licensed MSK’s foundational technology in 2011 and has since continued to innovate. Adjuvance seeks to apply TQL-1055 in improved vaccine compositions, including an improved shingles vaccine expected to enter clinical development during 2022. Adjuvance will continue to develop its vaccine adjuvant technology by creating, developing, and manufacturing a family of next-generation proprietary adjuvants as the foundation of its vaccine pipeline and for other developers through licensing partnerships.

MSK Disclosure: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) has intellectual property rights and associated financial interests related to Adjuvance Technologies by virtue of licensing agreements between MSK and Adjuvance Technologies.

About TQL-1055: TQL-1055 is a rationally designed, semi-synthetic analogue of the QS-21 saponin adjuvant, which is used in the currently available shingles vaccine. Saponin adjuvants are potent immune stimulators and important components of licensed, currently marketed, and clinically-advanced infectious disease vaccines. The usefulness of saponin adjuvants has been constrained by dose-limiting tolerability and manufacturing challenges. TQL-1055 is designed to have improved tolerability and to provide the same strong immune response as QS-21 and has shown favorable tolerability in a Phase 1 clinical trial. Adjuvance is designing new combination adjuvants, with TQL-1055 as the foundation, to produce different types of immune responses.

About Shingles: Shingles (also known as herpes zoster) is a painful rash that develops, often on the face or torso, and has the potential complication of pain that can last for months or even years. Vaccination against shingles is recommended in the United States and many countries for older adults and people with weak immune systems, resulting in a market value of over $2.0 billion in 2020. Available shingles vaccines contain the saponin adjuvant QS-21 and the toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 agonist adjuvant monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL), known together as the AS01 adjuvant. The adjuvanted shingles vaccine is highly effective, but can cause short-term adverse events more intense than other vaccines. About 1 out of 6 people who got the available shingles vaccine experienced side effects that prevented them from doing regular activities. Symptoms went away on their own in about 2 to 3 days.

About Adjuvance Technologies: Adjuvance Technologies is a privately-held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to making vaccines better through fundamental breakthroughs in adjuvant design, vaccine development, and manufacturing. Adjuvance creates and manufactures next generation proprietary adjuvants as the foundation of its vaccine pipeline and for other developers through licensing partnerships. Our lead vaccine candidate against shingles aims to provide a better patient experience including improved tolerability for the recipient and the same protection against disease.

Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, the company has received grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and closed a Series A investment by Morningside Venture Investments. For more information, visit www.adjuvancetechnologies.com and connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Contact information

Adjuvance:
Media
Howard Matzner
Senior Account Executive
LaVoieHealthScience
hmatzner@lavoiehealthscience.com
+1 617-865-0048

Investors
Tyler Martin
Chief Executive Officer
+1 402-817-5050