QURETECH BIO AB

Defeats bacterial virulence without affecting the normal bacterial flora

Market Need And PotentialAntibiotic resistance is a serious and accelerating problem. Infections with multidrug resistant bacteria cause around 25 000 deaths annually in the EU alone, and the accompanying economic burden is immense. Without adequate tools to control bacterial infections, modern health care will collapse to the point that oncological treatments and advanced surgery that make patients highly susceptible to infections will become difficult or impossible to perform. There is an urgent need for new remedies against bacterial infections. Regulatory bodies offer fast track for novel treatments of bacterial infections and in the US an extra five years market exclusivity is awarded once an antibacterial drug is approved.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the most deadly infectious disease with 1.5 million deaths yearly. The current standard treatment is mainly effective and cures 80-85% of the treated. However the treatment is long, 6-9 months, the drug dose burden is high and this combination gives rise to significant side effects. Compliance is of utmost importance to avoid development of drug resistance. However compliance is challenged by the long duration and the side effects. It is generally agreed that the most desired improvement in the treatment of Tuberculosis is to shorten the duration of the antibiotic course.

Our SolutionQureTech Bio develops a revolutionary new class of antibacterial agents, virulence blockers, which block the bacteria’s ability to cause disease. These agents selectively disarm the pathogenic properties of the bacteria and will be used in combination with front line antibiotics.

QureTech Bio has developed virulence blockers that prevent Mycobacteria tuberculosis (Mtb) from going into persistent state and tolerating antibiotic treatment and immune defences. Hence, the bacteria are rendered defenceless against antibiotics and the immune response. These Mycobacterial Tolerance Inhibitors (MTI’s) represent a fundamentally new approach to the treatment of Tuberculosis.

Competitive Advantages•Mycobacterial Tolerance Inhibitors, developed by QureTech Bio, block the stress response of Mtb to prevent the establishment of persistent bacteria.

•By combining the Mycobacterial Tolerance Inhibitor with current antibiotics, treatment time can be shortened significantly due to the increased efficacy of antibiotic treatment.

•Shortening the treatment time to a month would improve side effect profile, compliance, patient quality of life and treatment outcome greatly.

•Shortening the treatment time to a month would save 75% of the current drug costs. This creates a value of $5B on drug costs alone. With the savings in the health care system added to this, shortening the treatment regimen would be very attractive for payers.

•The Mycobacterial Tolerance Inhibitors may potentially also be used for prophylactic treatment against Tuberculosis by maintaining Mtb sensitive to the immune response of the host.

CompetitionTo the best of our knowledge this is the first virulence blocker ever described against Mtb. The most important new antibiotics in late stage development are Pretomanid from TB-Alliance, Bedaquline from Janssen Pharma and De-lamanid from Otsuka Pharmaceuticals Ltd, which are all in clinical phase 3.

PHARMA / ANTI-INFECTIVES

We see a potential to boost the efficacy of these new products with our MTI and in that way turn the competitors into business opportunities.

IPRA provisional patent application has recently been filed for the MTI invention. QureTech Bio has a free licence from Washington University for the develop-ment of the MTI’s.

Current StatusQureTech Bio is ready to start full validation of the treatment of active Mtb in-fection and prevention of the reactivation of disease in animal models. Besides acute treatment absence of relapses will be the main read out parameters in this study.

The chemical series is well suited for drug development with good potency and tractable properties.

Partnerships/Collaborations SoughtThe company firstly seeks funding for the Proof of Concept study and to secure further IPR. To achieve this $500k is needed over 18 months. Further development to a candidate drug is estimated to require $6.5M over 3 years. QureTech Bio also seeks funding and partnership to progress our virulence blocker project directed against Chlamydia to nomination of candidate drug.

TeamFritiof Pontén, CEO, PhD, former Team Leader at AstraZeneca in MölndalSven Bergström, Chairman of the board, Prof. Microbiology Umeå UniversityScott Hultgren, CSO, Prof. Microbiology Washington University, St Louis Fredrik Almqvist, Chief Chemist, Prof. Organic Chemistry Umeå UniversityMichael Richman, Senior Advisor, former CEO Amplimmune, USAJörgen Johansson, Listeria expert, Prof. Microbiology Umeå UniversityChristina Stallings, Ass. Prof. Microbiology Washington University, St LouisMatthew Chapman, Ass. Prof of Mol., Cell. and Dev. Biology University of Michigan

QureTech Bio is supported by Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI), and has access to UBI’s extended network.

QureTech Bio AB develops a new class of anti-infective agents with the unique ability to selectively prevent the disease-causing properties of certain bacteria without disrupting the normal bacterial flora. Therefore, the risk for resistance development is significantly reduced. The company was founded as a drug development company in 2010 to commercialise world-leading research from groups based at Umeå University, Sweden, and Washington University, St Louis, MO, USA.

Contact: Fritiof Pontén, CEO Phone: +46 70 819 93 79 Email: fritiof.ponten@quretech.comWebsite: www.quretech.com