Immuron leverages advanced dairy industry technology and a significant
body of human clinical studies to produce safe, oral formulations of
antibodies and other bioactive proteins of value. Immuron's antibodies
and proteins are harvested from the first postpartum milking of dairy
cattle (colostrum or “immune milk”). These cattle have previously been
immunized with Immuron's proprietary vaccines before calving, and have
been monitored to assure vaccine immunogenicity. Primary bovine
colostrum (BCP) from these cattle have a naturally high concentration
of immunoglobulins as well as a high natural concentration of other
proteins, and include antigen target immunoglobulins specific to the
vaccine antigen we have used.
Immuron works with world class
academic and governmental health institutions to improve our vaccines,
characterize our bioactives, and demonstrate clinical efficacy and
safety for our products. As a result, we hold an ever-expanding
intellectual property portfolio to maximize potency and clinical use of
Immuron's novel formulations targeting specific diseases. This
includes issued patents and patent filings concerned with preparation
of our vaccines, collection of colostrum, economic processing of our
bioactives, oral delivery of our products, specific mechanisms of
disease prevention and treatment unique to our approaches.
Manufacturing technology
Our
manufacturing technology is highly scalable and allows for rapid and
low cost development and commercialization for a broad range of
immunotherapeutics. Produced under rigorous dairy industry standards,
our active ingredients are freeze dried into powder and can be packed
as tablets, capsules, bulk dry powders or individual sachets for point
of care reconstitution, or in combination with other active
ingredients.Current Immuron commercial process yields an export-grade
certified dairy ingredient product that includes casein and other
colostral bioactive proteins obtained exclusively from first milking
colostrum of vaccinated dairy cows within commercial milk-producing
herds. The product is registered by DairySafe Victoria for domestic and
export use, and meets GMP including microbiological safety standards
for export as a dairy food and for use as a pharmaceutical product
ingredient.
Both the manufacturing process and the starting
material for Immuron's Hyper-Immunized products are unique to Immuron
formulations. The system used by Immuron yields a high immunoglobulin
concentration (>40%), while retaining high levels of other proteins.
Additional formulation methods allow us to use natural proteins to
enhance the bioavailability of the active immunoglobulins at the
gastrointestinal mucosal surface where they can benefit the patient.
Regulatory
All
of Immuron's dairy-derived product is 100% BSE free, Kosher and
non-GMO. This allows the company to export into all other countries
under dairy food ingredient import regulations. Immuron's bioactives
are already being commercialized in the marketplace under a variety of
regulatory pathways depending on the clinical claims being sought and
indications for use. Importantly, as an all-natural dairy food product,
there are a number of rapid pathways to market based on our products’
high safety profile. Our product platform has received GRAS (Generally
Regarded as Safe) status based upon expert panel review at the
Therapeutic Goods Authority (TGA), the Australian national equivalent
to the US FDA, and has received self-affirmed GRAS status, as defined
by the US FDA, by an international panel of physician experts.
Oral Immune Modulation- PIPELINE PRODUCTS PENDING APPROVAL OF HADASIT TRANSACTION
Immuron has signed a deal to acquire important and novel immune oral modulationa from Hadassah Medical Center. The pending
transaction covers a technology, that when used in combination with
Immuron’s own ”immune milk” antibodies and proteins, can directly
correct deficiencient regulatory T cells (Tregs), a type of immune
cell known to have profound effects in controlling inflammatory
responses, immune activation and suppression in many diseases. This
novel approach has shown positive effects in several validated animal
models of human disease, including type II diabetes and metabolic
syndrome.
Anti-LPS Antibody
Lipopolysaccarides
found in gram negative bacterial cell walls are implicated as key
drivers of GI inflammation as well as in HIV/AIDS pathogenesis. Immuron
has a proprietary vaccine that can generate high affinity, orally
delivered polyclonal antibodies that bind LPS.
Data supporting
this work was first presented by scientists from Murdoch Children’s
Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, Victoria and
the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of
Melbourne at the Australian Society for Microbiology annual meeting
held in Melbourne.
Broad, cross-reactive anti-LPS antibody
activity can have direct as well as immune-mediated impact that is
highly relevant in a number of gastrointestinal diseases.
Commercial Advantages for Immuron's Technology
Rapid Scale Up: May require as little as 3 months to obtain new antibody formulations in a form for clinical trial.
Economies
of Scale: With access to enormous numbers of dairy animals, large-scale
rapid production is feasible and cost-effective.
Cost Advantage: BCP-derived polyclonal immunoglobulins are a fraction of the cost of monoclonal antibodies.
More
rapid and less costly regulatory pathway: While specific designations
for food-based, natural GRAS-affirmed products vary from country to
country, Immuron's pipeline products have in general a much shorter and
less costly expected path to commercialization than comparable
synthetic pharmaceutical or biological products.
Platform Based:
Ability to raise a variety of antibodies against bacteria, virus, and
other molecules for delivery to the GI tract, the upper respiratory
tract and topically, as required.