Developing a first-in-class bacterial microsyringe platform
to fight against cancers (solid tumors)
and multi-resistant pathogens

ALPIONER THERAPEUTICS

Alpioner Therapeutics is a biotech company founded in 2023 by three partners, M. Frederic Fasano a seasoned pharma and biotech international executive, Ms Audrey le Gouellec, Associate professor and Hospital Practitioner at Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) and SATT Linksium, a renowned incubator and tech transfer office at UGA.

In 2023, Alpioner Therapeutics gained the global exclusive rights to develop a whole-cell vaccine platform (Bacterial vector), from UGA and was awarded along with its first financing, the i-Lab prize from the French BPI (Banque Pour l’Investissement). M. Klaus Schwamborn, a seasoned drug and vaccine developer from the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) in Brunswick, Germany, joined the team as Chief Scientific Officer with a mission to lead the research program on Alpioner’s innovative vaccine platform and to implement the preclinical and clinical plan of our R&D programs in immuno-oncology (ALP-20X) and in infectious disease (ALP-101).

Vaccines against cancer have long been awaited carrying on a great potential both therapeutic against existing tumors and prophylactic against tumor relapses. Progress in research over the last decades have highlighted the potential of unleashing the immune system against cancer cells and neoantigens, in particular, are promising targets for therapeutic vaccine development. At Alpioner Therapeutics we are leveraging the potential of our unique bacterial vector to generate an Individualized Therapeutic Cancer Vaccine candidates (ITCV) based on tumor neoantigens. Alpioner Tx is developing first-in-class potent antigen/functional protein delivery vectors to further leverage the potency of the immune system to make cancer patients live longer. 

Infectious diseases and more specifically bacterial pathogens are posing major threats on public health. Today, still few of these harmful infections are preventable due to the lack of efficient and safe vaccines and antibiotic treatment alternatives, while the trends on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are growing exponentially. At Alpioner Therapeutics, we believe that major research efforts are urgently needed to overcome these threats and fulfill these large unmet medical needs. 

Alpioner’s mission is to build a pipeline of vaccine candidates targeting certain difficult-to-treat cancers and multi-resistant bacterial pathogens to fight against anti-microbial resistance.

HARNESSING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
FOR THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER

Cancer immunotherapy provides a basis for activating the components of the immune system of cancer patients. The success of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for cancer treatment highlights how unleashing endogenous T cell activity can mediate clinical efficacy of long duration even in the metastatic setting. However, most of the patients do not clinically respond to immunotherapy or ultimately relapse. Additional treatment options are required.

Based on advances in the genetic characterization of tumours and identification of tumour-specific antigens, individualized therapeutic cancer vaccines targeting mutated proteins in the tumor recognized by the immune system as unique foreign antigen (neoantigen) are being developed to generate tumour neoantigen-specific T cell responses licenced to kill neoantigen-expressing tumor cells.

ALPIONER'S UNIQUE ALP-20X BACTERIAL MICROSYRINGE DELIVERY PLATFORM ALLOWS CONTROLLED DELIVERY OF PEPTIDE ANTIGENS AND FUNCTIONAL PROTEINS TO IMMUNE CELLS

Alpioner Therapeutics has licensed-in an innovative technology developed over the last years by scientist from the TIMC Lab (Laboratoire en recherche Translationnelle et Innovation en Medecine et Complexité) at Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), consisting of a new non-replicative bacterial vector platform using the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa). The vector is based on an inducible type 3 secretion system (T3SS) – a bacterial “microsyringe” – and recombinant polypeptides (multiple antigen peptides as well as functional proteins) expressed in high amounts in the bacterium before delivery directly into the cytosol of the eukaryotic host cells via this microsyringe.

To generate a safer avirulent bacterial delivery system with strong immune stimulation properties, we have applied the Killed But Metabolic Active (KBMA) concept to Pa, but also other genetics alteration strategies aiming at suppressing other virulence factors. Using this genetically engineered KBMA strain, the TIMC academic team at Grenoble-Alpes University has demonstrated the successful delivery of antigens and proteins into immune cells, the induction of a strong and long lasting CD8+ T cell response, and a potent therapeutic efficacy in tumor-bearing mice.

References : 1) Wang et al. 2012. 2) Le Gouellec et al, 2013. 3) Chauchet et al 2017 

ALP-201-neo: AN INDIVIDUALIZED THERAPEUTIC NEOANTIGEN VACCINE
AT PRECLINICAL STAGE

Alpioner Therapeutics is consolidating a preclinical package which exploits the use of ALP-20X vector to deliver neoantigens (ALP-201-neo) alone or in combination to various approved therapies. Compared to other approaches ALP-201-neo can provide: (i) high immunogenicity / self-adjuvanticity, (ii) high antigen level and direct delivery to the cytosol of immune cells, (iii) long lasting immune response, (iv) higher stability versus peptides in adjuvant, mRNA or other technologies, (v) a safer avirulent and potent KBMA bacterial vector versus live attenuated bacterial cancer vaccines. This program is aiming at improving the clinical efficacy of immunotherapies without increasing immunotoxicities, by induction of a de novo and reactivate tumor neoantigen-specific T cells and to make the TME responsive to CD8+ T cell attack. We are evaluating the most appropriate cancer indications and clinical set up where our approach can have the most meaningful impact for patients.

ALP-202-IMM - DISCOVERY STAGE

Alpioner Tx is committed to further develop its vector by delivering functional proteins as potent APC / myeloid targeted immunostimulatory molecules to move immunotherapy of cancer a step forward.

INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Pa INFECTIONS, A GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH BURDEN

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram-negative bacterial pathogen characterized for its low antibiotics’ susceptibility. It is one of the most relevant opportunistic pathogens, causing infections at hospitals, particularly in ICU when hospitalized patients undergo a mechanical ventilation but also in outpatients’ settings, in cystic fibrosis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) / Bronchiectasis patients. Pa is associated and/or directly responsible for more than 550,000 deaths a year1. It is the leading cause of death in cystic fibrosis patients and it accounts for half of all deaths in COPD patients. More than 100,000 deaths are directly attributed to multiresistant strains of Pa each year.

     In 2017, The World Health Organization classified Pseudomonas aeruginosaas a priority 1 based on the level of risk this pathogen is putting on public health2. WHO supports investing  more in research to find new treatment and prophylactic options.

ALPIONER THERAPEUTICS BRINGS
A NEW VACCINE APPROACH TO ACUTE Pa-INFECTIONS

Alpioner Therapeutics is developing a vaccine candidate which was originally designed by TIMC Lab. Killed But Metabolically Active (KBMA) vaccines are bacterial nucleotide excision repair mutants and are inactivated by photochemical treatment with a synthetic highly reactive psoralen. Deletion of the Uvr gene AB, coding for exonucleases, renders bacteria sensitive to ultraviolet light–induced DNA damage and to psoralen-induced crosslinks. The Uvr mutant strains undergoing a photochemical inactivation leaves intact the ability of inactivated bacteria to express its genes, while preventing replication and the ability to cause disease in the immunized host. Thus, the early events in the natural infection are unaffected, which facilitates the induction of an innate and adaptive immune response comparable to that induced by the live pathogen.

Alpioner Therapeutics is developing a KBMA vaccine candidate (ALP-101) against a gram-negative pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa3.

References: 1) GBD 2019 AMR Coll. Lancet 2022 2) WHO report 2017. 3) E. Meynet et al. Vaccine 2018

THE ALPIONER THERAPEUTICS TEAM

Frédéric FASANO

Chief Executive Officer
Co-founder

Frederic Fasano acts as Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Alpioner Therapeutics. He is a seasoned pharma and Biotech executive with over 25 years of experience in managing strategic affiliates and specialty pharma…

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Klaus SCHWAMBORN

Chief Scientific Officer

Biotech Executive

Dr. Klaus Schwamborn acts as Chief Scientific Officer at Alpioner Therapeutics. Klaus is a seasoned biotech executive with over 20 years of R&D and general management experience in biotech, pharma and non-profit organizations.

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Remi PALMANTIER

Immuno-Oncology External Expert

Pharma /Biotech executive

Rémi is a seasoned scientist and R&D leader with 25+ years of experience in Biopharma / Biotech industry in Europe and North America. He founded his consulting company, ImmThera Consulting SAS, in 2018. Since then..

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Audrey LE GOUELLEC

Scientific advisor
Co-founder

Audrey Le Gouellec, Ph.D, HDR, is an associate professor and hospital practitioner in biochemistry at Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) Medical School and Hospital. She previously co-founded a start-up in 2012.

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PARTNERS

Petite Halle – 31 rue Gustave Eiffel    38000 GRENOBLE – FRANCE

contact@alpionertx.com
+33 (0) 7 69 41 10 15

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Frederic Fasano acts as Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Alpioner Therapeutics. He is a seasoned pharma and Biotech executive with over 25 years of experience in managing strategic affiliates and specialty pharma companies in different geographies (Canada, Europe, Latin America). Prior to that, he worked for Valeo Pharma as President and COO where he led the rapid growth and transformation of the operations and the consolidation of the financial position through several financing rounds. Before that, he served as President and CEO of Servier Canada, a fully integrated affiliate of Servier Group. During his tenure, he led the portfolio diversification strategy, including multiple in-licensing deals, regulatory filings, and market access negotiations, while strengthening the corporate structure to maximize the affiliate’s growth. Frederic held various leadership positions in Italy, as CEO of Servier Italy and IFB Stroder, in France and Latin America. He sat on the Board of Directors of ILKOS Therapeutics, a biotechnology company founded in partnership with a Venture Capital firm. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Innovative Medicines Canada. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from ESSEC Business School (France) and a Pharm. Degree from Paris-Saclay University (France). He recently earned a certified corporate directorship from McGill – Institute of Corporate Director (Canada).

Dr. Klaus Schwamborn acts as Chief Scientific Officer at Alpioner Therapeutics. Klaus is a seasoned biotech executive with over 20 years of R&D and general management experience in biotech, pharma and non-profit organizations. He has a long-standing track record in the field of infectious diseases and immuno-oncology, and significantly contributed to the progression of several vaccine and antibody candidates from discovery- and preclinical stage into early clinical development. Klaus also holds the function as Head of Vaccine Development in the German Center for Infection Research in Brunswick, Germany. Before 2022, he served as Vice President, Pre-clinical Program Director and Head of Scouting & Innovation at Valneva in Nantes, France. Prior Valneva in 2013, he acted as Chief Development Officer at Pepscan Therapeutics (now Biosynth) in Lelystad, the Netherlands and Research Scientist at Celgene (now BMS) in San Diego, USA. Klaus is a biologist by training and earned his Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology in 1998 from the University in Göttingen, Germany. He performed postdoctoral studies at the Institute Pasteur in Paris, France and holds a certificate form the Rotterdam School of Management in Business Management and Leadership.

Rémi is a seasoned scientist and R&D leader with 25+ years of experience in Biopharma/Biotech industry in Europe and North America. He founded his consulting company, ImmThera Consulting SAS, in 2018. Since then, he has been counselling, evaluating, designing, and managing R&D programs for biotech, early-stage start-up, TTOs, Biopharma, and CRO. He has been the CSO of Skymab therapeutics that develops ADC in solid tumors and before at Genticel, a clinical stage Biotech focused on immunotherapy targeting oncogenic HPV. Prior his biotech experience, he led the development of innovative Biologics from discovery to late clinical stage at GSK for almost 2 decades in the field of immune-oncology and chronic diseases, eg. immune disorders. Through his career in R&D as well for 2 years in commercial strategy in oncology at GSK, he developed a solid product vision and know-how in R&D of innovative drugs to move and translate discoveries into potential commercial assets.

Audrey Le Gouellec, Ph.D, HDR, is co-founder and scientific advisor at Alpioner Therapeutics. She is an associate professor and hospital practitioner in biochemistry at Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) Medical School and Hospital. She previously co-founded a start-up in 2012 and worked as Bioscience R&D Research Manager at Biomérieux. Since 2008, she is a researcher at TIMC Lab and is heading a research group in the TrEE team. She leads the metabolomics platform GEMELI-GExiM and serves as President of «Réseau francophone de Métabolomique et Fluxomique (RFMF)». She is deputy director of UGA’s «Engineering for Health, Cognition and the Environment» (EDISCE) graduate school. For the past 20 years, Audrey’s research focused on the regulation of signaling molecules in the host-pathogen interaction associated with the development of biotechnology applications. She is involved in the fight against Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections as a member of the «Groupe De Recherche Pseudomonas». She has authored or co-authored over 40 scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals, invented 3 patents and participated in numerous national and international conferences. She participated in many international research projects, involving academic and industrial partners and raised 1,7 milion €. Audrey was awarded the best poster communication at «Vaincre la Mucoviscidose» association’s young researchers’ colloquium in 2015 and was recognized as one of TIMC’s most talented women in 2023.