Covid-19 Project Update

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR").

16 April 2020

N4 Pharma Plc

("N4 Pharma" or the "Company")

Covid-19 Project Update

Further to the Company's announcement on 25 March 2020, N4 Pharma Plc (AIM: N4P), the specialist pharmaceutical company developing Nuvec®, a novel delivery system for cancer treatments and vaccines, is pleased to provide an update on the timing and work that it will be undertaking as part of its Covid-19 proof of concept research project for Nuvec®.

The Company has received delivery of the initial quantity of the Covid-19 plasmid DNA from the National Institute for Health ("NIH") in the USA and has appointed Evotec International Gmbh ("Evotec") to undertake the Nuvec® proof of concept work for use with Covid-19 at its site in Toulouse, France.

The initial proof of concept work will commence during the first week of May once all required materials have been sourced by Evotec and will involve the following three stages:

1.     amplification of the plasmid DNA received from the NIH to provide sufficient plasmid DNA to undertake the in vitro and initial in vivo studies. This work is expected to take approximately four weeks;

2.     demonstrating whether Nuvec® is capable of loading the Covid-19 plasmid and transfecting murine peripheral blood mononuclear ("PBMC") cells in vitro, and induce an expression of the spike protein in target cells. This stage is expected to last a further ten weeks; and

3.     subject to positive results being achieved at stage 2, undertaking an initial pre in vivo study to demonstrate expression of the spike protein in target cells in a murine target. This stage would be expected to take a further ten weeks, commencing in mid-July.

Once the stage 3 results have been reviewed, the Company will then determine whether to do a further in vivo study to demonstrate the capability of Nuvec® to generate Covid-19 specific antibodies. In light of the current global urgency around treatments for Covid-19, the Company would also seek to collaborate, where it can, with appropriate partners to accelerate further studies at this juncture. 

Covid-19 Virtual Partnering Event

The Company is pleased to announce that it has registered as a participant in the Covid-19 Virtual Partnering event organised jointly by Lyonbiopole, Evaluate Ltd. and Inova and being held between 20 April and 6 May. The aim of the event is to foster connections and accelerate global collaboration to coordinate the industry's response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Further details on the event are available at www.virtual-partnering.com.

Nigel Theobald, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented:

"The initial proof of concept data package for Nuvec® using Covid-19 is expected to last approximately six months and is a key priority for the Company to demonstrate the versatility and potential for our Nuvec® delivery system, and to license Nuvec® to partners looking to develop vaccines for this virus.

"As announced previously, we are not doing this work to develop a vaccine for Coronavirus but rather to demonstrate to those working on these vaccines how Nuvec® may enhance subsequent vaccines they may be looking to develop for this Coronavirus or other viruses that may well surface in the future."

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Glossary

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) are widely used in research and toxicology applications. They give selective responses to the immune system and are the major cells in the human body immunity. They contain several types of cells such as lymphocytes, monocytes or macrophages.

About N4 Pharma

N4 Pharma is a specialist pharmaceutical company developing a novel delivery system for vaccines and cancer treatments using its unique silica nanoparticle delivery system called Nuvec®.

N4 Pharma's business model is to partner with companies developing novel antigens for vaccines and cancer treatments to use Nuvec® as the delivery vehicle to get their antigen into cells to express the protein needed for the required immunity. As these products progress through pre clinical and clinical programs, N4 Pharma will seek to receive up front payments, milestone payments and ultimately royalty payments once products reach the market.