Check Up: Aussie biotech Avarax on verge of peanut allergy cure

Avarax is entering Phase 2 clinical trials in its quest to cure peanut allergies. In doing so, it joins these other Aussie innovators on the march.

We all might be able to enjoy these tasty treats soon! Picture: Getty Images

Avarax is entering Phase 2 clinical trials in its quest to cure peanut allergies. In doing so, it joins other Aussie innovators on the brink of breakthroughs.

In fact Australia is widely seen as one of the world’s biotech and medtech powerhouses.

Not only are our discoveries saving lives all over the world, we’re also fast becoming a hub for global companies and investors in this space.

But while most think of ASX-listed companies when asked to name leaders in cutting-edge biotech, a handful of private Australian companies have also made medical breakthroughs.

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Take Aravax, a Melbourne-based biotech company developing the first safe, convenient, and disease-modifying treatment for peanut allergy.

Aravax uses its proprietary platform drug technology, PVX108, to precisely reset the immune system to tolerate the allergens, without provoking severe reactions during treatment.

The company has completed Phase 1 clinical trial successfully, and is now starting Phase 2 trials in Australia, with preparations also under way to open trial centres in the US.

How Avarax’s drug works

Australia has a relatively high prevalence of peanut allergy, with almost 3 per cent of infants suffering from it.

Traditional thinking about the pathology of allergy has centred on the role of allergen-specific IgE, which releases inflammatory mediators when it comes into contact with an allergen – in turn, causing the allergy reaction.

What’s never really been explored is the balance between pro-inflammatory CD4+ cells and protective CD4+ cells, which is also a pivotal determinant of allergic status.

Aravax saw that a therapeutic opportunity exists to redirect the allergen-specific T cell population back towards a healthy balance, and restore tolerance to allergens.

Aravax’s PVX108 was designed precisely to restore this balance and retrain the immune system to tolerate peanut allergens.

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The PVX108 comprises a mixture of peptides that represent sequences from peanut allergens, which are critical for recognition by peanut-specific T cells.

Unlike other peanut allergy immunotherapies, PVX108 does not contain the peanut proteins (allergens) which cause severe allergic reactions.

PVX108 is being developed as a simple monthly intradermal injection to induce tolerance to peanuts, and reduce the risk of severe allergic reactions upon accidental exposure.

The technology for PVX108 was developed by Professor Robyn O’Hehir, Professor Jennifer Rolland and Dr Sara Prickett at Alfred Health and Monash University, in Melbourne.

Aravax meanwhile has been funding its clinical trials through private and government funding.

The company has just announced a Series B funding round with a total of US$42.2 million from Brandon Capital and Tenmile.

The Victorian government has also chipped in with a Breakthrough Victoria $12 million investment into Aravax, as part of a $66 million funding round to develop the novel peanut allergy treatment.

Recent ASX stock winners

ACTINOGEN MEDICAL (ASX:ACW)

ACW has enjoyed a solid run off the back of news that a human positron emission tomography (PET) study, confirming high levels of the company’s Xanamem drug in the brain at safe, well tolerated, and biologically active doses, has been published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

The company says the study confirms that Xanamem is a brain-penetrant inhibitor of the tissue cortisol synthesis enzyme, 11β-HSD1, with high levels of target occupancy at doses as low as 5mg.

It’s action reduces the production of this “stress hormone” in brain neurons. Cortisol is toxic to brain cells and association with disease progression in Alzheimer’s disease.

SINGULAR HEALTH GROUP (ASX:SHG)

Singular has surged after announcing an enterprise licence order for 5000 annual licences of the 3Dicom Patient software in the US.

TechWorks 4 Good, acting on behalf of US Veterans, acquired the licences with the aim of enhancing the comprehension and transferability of medical records for veterans.

The two-year contract includes a purchase order for 50 3Dicom R&D licences and 5000 3Dicom Patient licences, for total value of approximately $152,000.

While the contract is not huge, the purchase means that Roseman University has become the first US College to adopt Singular’s 3Dicom R&D software as a medical education tool, in a market forecast to be worth USD$17.6 billion by 2027.

PHARMAUST (ASX:PAA)

PharmAust has received approval for an open-label extension study of monepantel, in patients with Motor Neurone Disease (MND)/Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

All Phase 1 MEND Study patients have expressed interest in continuing treatment and taking part in the study, which is expected to start this month.

Read more here: PharmAust gets ethics committee green light for open-label MND extension study.

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ALTERITY THERAPEUTICS (ASX:ATH)

Alterity announced recently that an independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) has completed its second review of trial data and recommended the ATH434-201 Phase 2 study continue as planned.

The ATH434-201 clinical trial is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation of ATH434 in patients with early-stage multiple system atrophy (MSA), a rare neurodegenerative disease for which there are no approved treatments to slow or stop progression.

The DMC expressed no concerns about safety and recommended that the study continue without modification. The plan for the DMC to review initial safety data has been cleared with the US FDA.

INVION (ASX:IVX)

Invion has been rallying after releasing its quarterly activities.

During the quarter, Invion said that it completed lodgement of the Phase I/II nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) trial application with the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).

First patient recruitment is expected in the coming months (subject to HREC approval).

Invion said that in the trial, it would be using an adaptive trial design for greater flexibility to incorporate dose optimisation and efficacy signal endpoints, on top of the usual safety data.

Separately, in the oral antimicrobial space, Invion is focusing on periodontal diseases, which it says represents a significant unmet need.

This content first appeared on stockhead.com.au

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While PharmAust is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

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Originally published as Check Up: Aussie biotech Avarax on verge of peanut allergy cure