Vaccitech has changed its name to Barinthus Biotherapeutics to highlight its strategic evolution into a T cell immunotherapy company.
The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company’s new name represents the expansion of its focus beyond vaccines.
The new name aims to reflect the company’s efforts to develop platforms and technology to guide and strengthen the immune system to treat and target infectious diseases, autoimmunity and cancer. The company has also updated its website as part of the rebranding.
Additionally, Barinthus said it will be presenting data from its phase 2 hepatitis B trials of VTP-300 at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases on 10 to 14 November.
Hepatitis B is a vaccine-preventable liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and estimated to affect over 300 million people worldwide.
VTP-300 is an investigational immunotherapeutic candidate comprising an initial dose that encodes multiple hepatitis B antigens.
The company is currently studying the candidate in combination with other agents, including siRNA and low-dose anti-PD-1 antibodies, to control infection, counteract immune suppression and treat T cell exhaustion in the liver caused by chronic HBV.
The open-label phase 2b study has been evaluating the efficacy, safety, tolerability, immunogenicity and treatment regimens of VTP-300 in combination with low-dose nivolumab (LDN) in chronic hepatitis B infection.
VTP-300 has previously demonstrated meaningful and durable hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) reductions in patients with HBV as a monotherapy and in combination with LDN in a phase 1b/2a study.
The candidate is the first antigen-specific immunotherapy to induce sustained reactions in HBsAg.
Bill Enright, chief executive officer of Barinthus Biotherapeutics, said: “The company is focused on the development of novel T cell immunotherapeutic candidates, which evolved out of [our] initial vaccine research.
“We believe that guiding the capabilities of T cells using our proprietary platform technologies provides broader developmental opportunities with a huge potential to eventually impact patients’ lives. We are excited to continue into the next chapter of the company’s story – as Barinthus Biotherapeutics.”
