One perk of Phoreus Biotech's patented technology is your arm won't get sore after an mRNA vaccine. But that's just a small part of the Olathe life sciences startup's tech, which solves key challenges and could help companies bring new cancer treatments to market.
The technology removes a key barrier to mRNA vaccines: strict refrigeration protocols. It’s estimated that more than 50 million Covid-19 vaccine doses were tossed worldwide because of issues with keeping the vials at the right temperature, Phoreus Biotech CEO Steve Schram said.
Founded in 2018, Phoreus is gaining traction. It raised $1.9 million earlier this year from private investors, most of whom reside in the Kansas City metro, and is using the money for research and development, building out a new laboratory and manufacturing space in Lawrence, and hiring four to five employees in the next year, Schram said. It recently amped up manufacturing capacity by 10 times, thanks to a new synthesizer.
During the past year, it added more collaborations with animal health and ag chemical companies and university researchers. It also signed an R&D agreement with a sizable company and landed eight material transfer agreements.
Phoreus has two main patented technologies: amphipathic peptide capsules (BAPC) and corralling amphipathic peptide colloids (CAPC).
BAPC — a new class of nanocarrier technology — can be combined with mRNA to deliver a vaccine to a body’s cells. It’s made of the same naturally occurring peptide sequences found in a human heart. Because the body doesn’t recognize this as a foreign substance, patients won’t get the typical adverse reactions at an injection site, such as a sore arm, swelling and heat, Chief Scientific Officer Michael Coe said.
Another big advantage, he said, is that Phoreus’ technology can be kept at shelf-stable temperatures. Testing to date has shown it can withstand temperatures up to 100 degrees Celsius. It’s also biodegradable.
Today’s mRNA vaccines use lipid nanocarriers and require strict temperature protocols and ultra-low freezers to retain vaccine safety and efficacy. They also must be used within 24 to 48 hours. So far, Phoreus’ testing has shown its technology won’t carry the same restrictions, Schram said. Plus, the manufacturing process for peptide nanocarriers is much simpler than lipid nanocarriers, and it’s scalable, he said.
CAPC is ideal for use cases, such as cancer drugs and antibiotics, Coe said. Some potential cancer drugs could be effective, but they’re not water soluble and don’t have the right delivery system to make it into cells. Phoreus’ CAPC, however, can encapsulate the drug and make it water soluble so the body can absorb it. The startup also can create different size capsules, which is vital, because certain drugs require a specific-sized carrier to make it into cells, COO Randall Tosh said.
Many drugs never advance past the lab testing phase because they don’t have the right delivery system, Coe said. Phoreus is targeting customers in the animal/human health, pharmaceutical and ag-chemical industries to use its technology.
“We think we have a delivery technology that can solve a lot of problems for new technologies, so they can get licensed either by the FDA or USDA,” Schram said.
