Deal focus: Australia’s ENA hits COVID-19 in the nose

Australia’s Brandon Capital, a life sciences VC firm, and Minderoo Foundation, a non-profit that has pivoted much of its activity toward stemming the pandemic, are used to dismissing investment opportunities where companies claim to have a breakthrough COVID-19 treatment. As such, their decision to co-lead a A$32 million ($25 million) round for ENA Respiratory has stoked all the more optimism.

ENA is a nasal spray-focused biotech developer that hopes to curb the spread of COVID-19 by stimulating the body’s innate immunity at the source of infection: the nose. Innate immunity refers to the defense mechanisms against invading pathogens that predate the human race. This primordial system is present across vertebrate species, even those without an acquired immune response with antibodies.

The company’s flagship inhalation product, INNA-051, is therefore said to be effective even for immune-compromised individuals, including children and the elderly. The plan to use it as a COVID-19 deterrent has led to it being fast-tracked by regulators in phase-one trials. Normally products of this kind take 4-5 years to reach the public, but that is expected to be dramatically reduced in this case. ENA aims to have proven safety and efficacy by year-end.

“It has a use in COVID, which is a global use, so the impact benefits and financials around a product like that are enormous. But INNA-051 is not just for COVID. Because it works on the host, it can be effective against flu, RSV [respiratory syncytial virus], rhinovirus, and COVID-19. It’s got applications for this pandemic, future pandemics, and for the outbreak of the different variants,” says Chris Smith, an investment director at Brandon.

“It is possible that governments will be the purchasers, just to make sure they’ve got it in the event something happens, and they can respond quickly. This product lends itself to that. But it’s underlying proposition has always been that there are large populations who suffer from viral respiratory infections, even in a non-pandemic setting. With aging and comorbidity, our immune systems are not as good as they used to be.”

Brandon has been an investor in ENA since 2017 and reupped last year in an A$11.7 million round alongside Uniseed, an investor with ties to Australian science agency CSIRO and various local universities. Uniseed also participated in the latest round, as did Biomedical Translation Fund, a government vehicle co-managed by Brandon. This came after a non-clinical study and a UK government animal trial demonstrated INNA-051’s effectiveness against COVID-19.

The fresh capital will be used to continue this progress in the months to come, but one of the investment’s most important outcomes has already been achieved. Renowned US-based respiratory disease scientist Ruth Tal-Singer has joined the ENA board with a view to accelerating the development of the company’s COVID-19 response. While onboarding specialized high-caliber talent is critical for all biotech players, those in the spray niche need it more than most.

“We’re not just making another antibody or oral small molecule,” Smith says. “Sprays are highly specialized when it comes to manufacturing, how they’re regulated, how you develop the medicines, and how you measure whether they’re working or not. That limits the global expertise that we can tap into, so we’ve got to be very mindful of making sure that we get people who are actually experts in this particular modality of drug delivery.”

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Early-stage
• Healthcare
• Technology
• Australia
• Brandon Capital
• covid-19
• coronavirus
• Pharmaceuticals