Taiwan Vaccine Adjuvant Pioneer ImmunAdd to Attend 2022 BIO International Convention in San Diego

• ImmunAdd's next-generation Saponin-based adjuvant IA-05 induced both humoral and cellular immunities in various vaccines, including those against COVID-19, influenza, and cancer.
• IA-05 is accessible via total chemical synthesis and does not rely on extracts from Quillaja Saponaria or any other tree.
• ImmunAdd is undertaking the development of IA-05 in collaboration with several biopharma from all over the world.

TAIPEI, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ImmunAdd, a privately held pharmaceutical company developing a fully synthetic, rationally designed, saponin-based small molecule vaccine adjuvant, attended the BIO International Convention conference in San Diego, California, on June 13-16.

Founder of ImmunAdd, Pi-Hui Liang, said, "My team and I are delighted to attend the BIO conference in San Diego, where we will show our next generation of saponin adjuvant IA-05 to the world and establish partnerships with companies developing the anti-infective and anti-cancer vaccines. IA-05 is a fully synthetic small molecule which that, in head-to-head preclinical studies against vaccines incorporating several existing adjuvants, including QS-21, demonstrated improved cross-presentation of antigens and well tolerability. Currently, QS-21-incorporated vaccines have shown better protection against virus infection. But QS-21 is less stable, which requires dedicated formulations, such as liposomes, and it is unsustainably sourced."

Professor Shan-Chwen Chang, infectious disease physician, chief advisor of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) of Taiwan, and the executive vice president of National Taiwan University (NTU), said, "Subunit protein-based vaccines are the major player of vaccines, and most of them require adjuvants to make a stronger and longer-lasting immune response. Adjuvants have been used safely for decades in several vaccines. Many important vaccines rely on the new generation of adjuvants to show cross-presentation of antigens and supply economically, yet very few adjuvant can achieve this. It is great to have a new adjuvant that shows better cross-protection."

The IA-05 vaccine adjuvant
IA-05 is a fully synthetic, rationally designed, saponin-based small molecule vaccine adjuvant which that has demonstrated improved tolerability and elicited improved enhanced immune responses compared with QS-21 in COVID, influenza, and anti-cancer vaccines. IA-05 can therefore enable the development of safer, more effective, and more durable vaccines and address the crisis faced by the South American soap bark tree (Quillaja Saponaria), which is being unsustainably harvested for QS-21 production. IA-05 is being tested in vaccines by several biopharmaceutical companies from different countries.

About Saponin adjuvants
Saponin adjuvants are potent immune stimulators and important essential components of clinically-advanced infectious disease vaccines, including those against shingles, malaria, COVID-19, influenza, and cancer, combined sales of billions of dollars. Existing saponin adjuvants are limited by poor clinical tolerability and inefficient manufacturing. They are unsustainably sourced from the inner lining of the bark of the Quillaja Saponaria tree, which grows only in parts of South America.

About ImmunAdd
ImmunAdd is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company on a mission to improve health through advances in adjuvant design and formulation. ImmunAdd was founded in 2021 by Professor Pi-Hui Liang of the School of Pharmacy, NTU, and has raised USD$1 million in non-dilutive grant funding from the Ministry of Economic and Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan.

SOURCE ImmunAdd