IMMUNETHEP

"Results can, sometimes, take several years to achieve and they are the product of the work of many people," says Bruno Santos, CEO of Immunethep. On 25 June 2014, after many years of research and an intensive project of applied research (carried out since 2012), Pedro Madureira and the Venture Catalysts signed a licensing agreement between U. Porto and Immunethep. This event marked the beginning of a new U. Porto spin-off biotech start-up that, since its creation, grasped the full extent of the path that lay ahead to transform research results into something with a high impact on the health and lives of millions of people. Immunethep was ready to start the first phase of clinical trials (beginning of 2017), after having carried out preclinical trials since 2015, with its PNV1 vaccine. The PNV1 is the first effective vaccine to prevent infections caused by all serotypes of a group of bacteria, including multi-resistant bacteria, and is intended to cover the entire population, from newborns to the elderly. This vaccine was based on the discovery of an immunosuppression mechanism shared by different bacteria, such as Staphylococcus Aureus, Streptococcus Pneumoniae, Klebsiella Pneumoniae, Escherichia Coli and Group B Streptococcus, which are some of the most dangerous bacteria, responsible for severe morbidity and mortality.

“All our research work and line of products are developed to answer medical needs that still don’t have practical solutions,” says Pedro Madureira, CSO of Immunethep. The company is strongly focused on developing effective immunotherapies to fight infections caused by multi-resistant bacteria, which is the case of the PNV1 vaccine.