NexBio

NexBio - another possible company cohort for NanoViricides:

Fludase® (DAS181) is a broad-spectrum drug candidate for the prophylaxis and treatment of respiratory infections by all types of influenza virus, including the types of virus that may cause a potential influenza pandemic, as well as all types of parainfluenza virus. Fludase® is currently in phase I clinical development, and has successfully completed its First-In-Man trial.

MECHANISM OF ACTION: FLUDASE® BLOCKS IFV ENTRY INTO CELLS

Fludase® is a recombinant fusion protein (see figure 1) that inactivates viral receptors on the cells of the human respiratory tract, thereby preventing influenza and other viruses such as parainfluenza from both infecting the human body and amplifying in already-infected individuals.

In the human respiratory tract, cell-surface sialic acids act are the host cell receptors for all influenza A and B and parainfluenza viruses. Fludase® works by inactivating these sialic receptors in the airway epithelium, therefore preventing viral entry into cells.
Source

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude for the support of the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, without which our critical research would not be possible.

Mang Yu
CEO
Source

NexBio is a five-year-old biotechnology company located in San Diego, California, founded to create and commercialize novel, broad-spectrum biopharmaceuticals to prevent and treat current and emerging life-threatening human disease. All funding to date has been from the National Institutes of Health in the form of grants and contracts, totaling ~$63 million.
Source

• NexBio lives off grants, year after year, $63 Million in 5 years, so far.
• I note that NexBio uses the sialic acid stuff in their virus fighting efforts. They block the virus from attaching to the cell it is targeting by interfering with the sialic acid attachment points on cells. They block those attachment points with a covering chemical so the virus has no way to attach to the cell it seeks. I think they do their thing on the cells themselves and do not do anything to the virus directly. NNVC does attack the virus directly and immobilizes it by making the cide look to the virus like a cell with the same sialic acid attachment points that the virus attaches to and becomes trapped unable to infect any cells themselves.

• I found this:

Hemagglutinin, displayed at left, is one of two virally-coded integral envelope proteins of the influenza virus. Hemagglutinin is responsible for host cell binding and subsequent fusion of viral and host membranes in the endosome after the virus has been taken up by endocytosis. In the first step of infection it binds to sialic acid residues of glycosylated receptor proteins on target cell surfaces.
Source

• So...I guess NNVC targets the sialic acid binding bits on the virus (making the virus think the cide particles are the host cells by presenting sialic acid binding sites for the virus to attach to), whereas NexBio tagets the sialic acid itself on the cell that the virus is looking to bind to and covers it so the virus can't find it. Two sides of the same coin perhaps?

• Re the government giving grants:
• Wouldn't it make sense to combine the likes of NNVC and NexBio into one grant? More bang for the buck? They certainly are similar!

• Re NexBio funding:

Corporate funding to date has been entirely non-dilutive, consisting of five grants totaling $13M, together with a BAA
Contract for $49.8M to support Fludase(R) development, all from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Source

• Re NexBio IP:

United States Patent Application 20050004020
Kind Code A1
Yu, Mang ; et al. January 6, 2005

Broad spectrum anti-viral therapeutics and prophylaxis

Abstract

The present invention provides new compositions and methods for preventing and treating pathogen infection. In particular, the present invention provides compounds having an anchoring domain that anchors the compound to the surface of a target cell, and a therapeutic domain that can act extracellularly to prevent infection of the target cell by a pathogen, such as a virus. Preferred target cells are epithelial cells. The invention provides compositions and methods for preventing viral diseases, such as influenza, using compounds having anchoring domains that can bind target cells linked to enzymatic activities that can act extracellularly to interfere with viral infection of target cells. The invention also provides compositions and methods for preventing viral diseases such as influenza using compounds having anchoring domains that can bind target cells linked to protease inhibitors that can act extracellularly to interfere with viral infection of target cells.
Source

United States Patent Application 20050112751
Kind Code A1
Fang, Fang ; et al. May 26, 2005

Novel class of therapeutic protein based molecules

Abstract

The present invention provides new compositions and methods for preventing and treating pathogen infection. In particular, the present invention provides compounds having an anchoring domain that anchors the compound to the surface of a target cell, and a therapeutic domain that can act extracellularly to prevent infection of a target cell by a pathogen, such as a virus. The present invention also comprises therapeutic compositions having sialidase activity, including protein-based compounds having sialidase catalytic domains. Compounds of the invention can be used for treating or preventing pathogen infection, and for treating and reducing allergic and inflammatory responses. The invention also provides compositions and methods for enhancing transduction of target cells by recombinant viruses. Such compositions and methods can be used in gene therapy.
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2 results found in the Worldwide database for:
NexBio as the applicant
(Results are sorted by date of upload in database)

1 TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PREPARATION OF MICROPARTICLES in my patents list
Inventor: MALAKHOV MICHAEL [US] ; FANG FANG [US] Applicant: NEXBIO INC [US] ; MALAKHOV MICHAEL [US] (+1)
EC: IPC:

Publication info: WO2009015286 (A2) — 2009-01-29

2 TECHNOLOGY FOR PREPARATION OF MACROMOLECULAR MICROSPHERES in my patents list
Inventor: MALAKHOV MICHAEL P [US] ; FANG FANG [US] Applicant: NEXBIO INC [US]
EC: A61K9/14; A61K9/00M20B; (+9) IPC: A61K9/16; A61K38/16; A61K38/48; (+3)

Publication info: KR20080090525 (A) — 2008-10-08
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• Re relevance?

• Not sure but interesting insofar as viral infection is attacked using targeting on cells. And, more importantly, if NexBio can garner $63million in government grants for their R&D and manufacture can we be far behind?

Refs:
WIPO
WO/2009/015286
WO/2007/114881

• Note (From WO/2007/114881):

As used herein, an emulsion is defined as a colloid of two immiscible liquids, a first liquid and a second liquid, where the first liquid is dispersed in the second liquid. As used herein, surfactants (or "surface-active agents") are chemical or naturally occurring entities which, when dissolved in an aqueous solution, reduce the surface tension of the solution or the interfacial tension between two or more phases in solution. The surfactant molecules generally are amphiphilic and contain hydrophilic head groups and hydrophobic tails. The surfactant molecules can act as stabilizers and/or improve flowability characteristics of the microparticles provided herein.

• Note as to particle sizing (From WO/2007/114881):

The geometric size of microspheres produced by the two methods was assessed by light microscopy and found to be essentially identical (range of 1.5 - 3.0 microns) [1500nm-3000nm] for both methods.