Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals PLC on Wednesday said its chimeric bait receptor can be delivered intranasally in the form of messenger RNA for the ‘potential’ treatment of airborne viral infections.

Shares in Hemogenyx rose 12% to 3.38 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

Hemogenyx is a London-based biopharmaceutical company focused on treatments for deadly blood diseases.

CBR is a platform technology under development that aims to program the immune cells that are responsible for innate immunity to eliminate viruses and certain malignant cells.

Research showed that nanoparticles created by mixing mRNA encoding a CBR-based therapeutic with a solvent and a polymer can be used to deliver CBR-coding into the upper respiratory tract, Hemogenyx said.

‘Once administered, nanoparticles were shown to successfully deliver mRNA into the immune cells of the URT and lungs. The immune cells in turn begin making CBR molecules within hours post-application, potentially becoming active ’defenders‘ against airborne infections,’ it explained.

Hemogenyx also has been testing CBR on SARS-Cov-2, the virus which causes Covid-19. Results have shown that ‘human macrophage cells programmed with CBR against SARS-CoV-2 are effective in vitro experiments,’ it explained. In November, it also tested the potential use of CBR for the treatment of non-hodgkin lymphoma.

Chief Executive Officer Vladislav Sandler said: ‘This major breakthrough in the method of delivery of our CBR demonstrates that it could potentially be used as an off-the-shelf prevention and/or treatment for viral infections. Intranasal delivery of CBR would be both cost-efficient and easy to administer, making it ideal for the protection of both the civilian population and in biodefense.’

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