Innovation Pharmaceuticals Reports New In Vivo Antifungal Data Showing Brilacidin’s Potential for Treating Fungal Keratitis

Additionally, Brilacidin to be Screened by NIH/NIAID to Further Characterize Its Broad-Spectrum Antifungal Activity

WAKEFIELD, MA, Dec. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via – Innovation Pharmaceuticals (OTCQB:IPIX) (“the Company”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, today provided an update on ongoing research on the broad-spectrum antifungal activity of Brilacidin, the Company’s defensin mimetic drug candidate exhibiting antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties.

Previous research conducted primarily by scientists at the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, showed Brilacidin can potentiate several marketed antifungals, including caspofungin, voriconazole and posaconazole. Moreover, Brilacidin exhibited potent stand-alone efficacy (MIC=2.5µM) against C. neoformans – a deadly fungus that causes an estimated 220,000 cases of cryptococcal meningitis worldwide each year and for which few effective treatments exist.

New in vivo data in an A. fumigatus murine fungal keratitis model showed Brilacidin reduced fungal burden and disease severity, while also improving corneal thickness compared to control. Brilacidin-treated corneas harbored almost no viable fungus, suggesting the compound suppressed fungal proliferation within the cornea. Worldwide, on an annual basis, fungal keratitis up to 1.5 million people, of whom 75 percent may lose an eye and/or their sight.

These new Brilacidin findings in fungal keratitis complement an earlier in vitro and in vivo evaluation of Brilacidin as an ocular anti-infective in bacterial keratitis. A broad-spectrum drug that could target both fungal and bacterial keratitis would be uniquely positioned as to its treatment profile and commercial potential.

Related, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently its Fungal Priority Pathogens List to spur research, development and policy interventions to strengthen the global response to fungal infections and antifungal resistance. Based on new in vitro testing, Brilacidin is exhibiting promising antifungal activity against many of these priority pathogens, including C. neoformans, A. fumigatus, C. albicans, Mucorales, Fusarium, Scedosporium spp., Lomentospora proflicans and C. krusei.

Planned next steps in Brilacidin antifungal research include extending in vitro and in vivo testing into additional clinical isolates and animal models, and publishing scientific findings. In collaboration with the NIH/NIAID’s mycology division, Brilacidin also is to be screened in multiple fungal species to further characterize its broad-spectrum antifungal activity. Future updates are planned.

About Antifungal Diseases 1, 2, 3

There are up to 5 million fungal species populating the earth, of which approximately 100,000 species have been identified. About 300 fungal species cause disease in humans. Overall, Candida, Cryptococcus and Aspergillus represent the main causative organisms of invasive fungal infections. There is a large unmet medical need for developing novel antifungal agents, particularly given the emergence of resistance in the clinical setting. The utility of current antifungal treatments is limited due to toxicity, fungistatic and not fungicidal properties, as well as drug interaction concerns. In the United States, antifungal drugs can qualify for expedited clinical development, under Qualified Infectious Disease Product designation, Orphan Drug designation, and the limited population pathway development program. Pivotal clinical trials for antifungal drugs, requiring between 300 and 600 patients, are generally smaller than those in other infectious disease areas. Caspofungin sales were estimated to be $414 million in 2021, with the global antifungal drugs market estimated at $14.8 billion in 2021 and expected to reach $20.5 billion by 2030.

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About Innovation Pharmaceuticals

Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IPIX) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of innovative therapies addressing multiple areas of unmet medical need, including inflammatory diseases, cancer, and infectious diseases. The Company is also active in evaluating other potential investment opportunities that can add value and diversify its portfolio.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, without limitation, statements concerning future product development plans, including with respect to specific indications; statements regarding the therapeutic potential and capabilities of the StingRay System; future regulatory developments; and any other statements which are other than statements of historical fact. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results and experience to differ materially from anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. The Company has in some cases identified forward-looking statements by using words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “hopes,” “estimates,” “looks,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “goal,” “potential,” “may,” “suggest,” and similar expressions. Among other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements are risks related to conducting pre-clinical studies and clinical trials and seeking regulatory and licensing approvals in the United States and other jurisdictions, including without limitation that compounds and devices may not successfully complete pre-clinical or clinical testing, or be granted regulatory approval to be sold and marketed in the United States or elsewhere; prior test results may not be replicated in future studies and trials; the Company’s need for, and the availability of, substantial capital in the future to fund its operations and research and development, including the amount and timing of the sale of shares of common stock under securities purchase agreements; and the Company’s licensee(s) may not successfully complete pre-clinical or clinical testing and the Company will not receive milestone payments. A more complete description of these and other risk factors is included in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Many of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions are beyond the Company’s ability to control or predict. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the information currently available to the Company on the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to any such forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law or regulation.

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