EuBiologics raises ambitions with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s vaccines

CEO weighs therapeutic strategy, global partnerships for pipeline

EuBiologics CEO Baik Yeong-ok (left) and Jonathan Lovell, co-founder of POP Biotechnologies, sign an agreement to codevelop a Parkinson's disease vaccine in San Francisco on Jan. 14. (EuBiologics)

EuBiologics, the world’s largest supplier of oral cholera vaccine, is looking to expand its pipeline by developing premium vaccines for central nervous system diseases as the Korean firm seeks to take the next step into the global market.

“If we are going to do premium vaccines, we could go until the end or opt for license-out or co-development,” said Baik Yeong-ok, CEO and vice chair of EuBiologics, in an interview on the sidelines of the 44th JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on Jan. 14.

According to Baik, EuBiologics has been gearing up to apply for an investigational new drug, or IND, approval of Padivax, the company’s peptide vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease, in the first half of this year.

“One of the consultants said, in case of the Alzheimer’s vaccine, we should make it into a therapeutic vaccine instead of a prophylactic vaccine. Since it would be difficult to have everyone aged 50 or older get the Alzheimer’s vaccine, a therapeutic vaccine strategy may have a lot more merit.”

On top of the Alzheimer’s disease vaccine development, the Korean vaccine-specialized biopharmaceutical company also announced last week that it had signed an agreement to codevelop a Parkinson’s disease vaccine through EuPOP Life Sciences, a joint venture between EuBiologics and United States startup POP Biotechnologies.

In 2020, EuBiologics invested $3 million to acquire a 25 percent stake in POP Biotechnologies and $1.25 to coestablish EuPOP Life Sciences with a 62.5 percent stake. POP Biotechnologies secured a $2.46 million grant from the US National Institutes of Health to pursue the development of a mosaic active immunotherapy against Alzheimer’s disease in Oct. last year.

“As we do our work in the global public health sector, (nongovernmental organizations) such as the Bill Gates Foundation offer us a lot of support while telling us to develop premium vaccines or private market vaccines so we can make a big profit from these, and lower the raw cost for public health vaccines to provide them at a cheaper price,” said Baik.

According to market estimates, EuBiologics is expected to have logged its best annual earnings last year since its establishment in 2010. Its yearly revenue and operating profit are estimated to have surpassed 150 billion won ($102 million) and 50 billion won, respectively.

The strong sales numbers came from EuBiologics’ contract with UNICEF to supply 72 million doses of Euvichol-S, the firm’s oral cholera vaccine, at the price of 149 billion won.

“Strategically, we have to decide whether to transfer our entire platform to a (big pharmaceutical firm), license-out each pipeline to mid-sized companies or co-develop with other firms,” said Baik.

“So instead of hitting the market prematurely and being up for sale, we have to be patient and keep advancing our technology.”