Business Objective

Originally established to financially support academic research, Biomay for many years was merely gathering intellectual property and was producing recombinant allergens required for research activities. Later, Biomay started selling recombinant allergens to non-associated research groups to encourage the drive for better allergy diagnostics and treatments – thus enabling a change of paradigm.

More than 25 % of the population in industrialized countries are currently affected by type 1 (IgE mediated) allergies, providing a large and still strongly growing market (2008 World Allergy Organization Report; see below). For people suffering from respiratory allergies, specific immunotherapy (SIT) is the only treatment proven to halt the “allergic march” towards asthma. Presently, SIT uses purified natural allergens, which limits its effectiveness. Due to the poor performance of natural extracts, conventional SIT has only captured about 4 % of the allergy market. As a result, many allergic patients at risk to get asthma are not receiving the best treatment, but are using antihistamines to subdue symptoms. This means that there is a huge unmet medical need, offering significant rewards to whoever comes up with an effective, safe and patient-friendly SIT solution.

Biomay’s technologies address the limitations of conventional specific immunotherapy methods, potentially revolutionizing the treatment and prevention of allergic diseases. The company has benefited from the commitment to research over more than 20 years, the cooperation with internationally renowned allergy experts, the access to premier research facilities of its partner institutions, and from a change of ownership. Biomay has now started to position itself as a leading technology provider for specific immunotherapy and prophylactic vaccines.

From the proprietary technology platform, various immunologically proven and commercially interesting developments have matured to late pre-clinical stage. In order to develop and commercialize products for the allergy market, Biomay is seeking strategic partnerships and cooperation with pharmaceutical or biotech companies in order to exploit its rich pipeline.

Biomay offers: basic research, discovery, development, pre-clinical studies (except pharmacological and toxicological evaluation), production of GMP-grade biopharmaceuticals for clinical studies (with upgrade potential for early market supply with GMP vaccine APIs) and allergological expertise for clinical studies. Partner resources would be required to cover: pharmacology, toxicology, vaccine formulation, clinical studies, registration, marketing and sales. For certain niche products, Biomay is pursuing its own developments to a late clinical stage.

From the 2008 World Allergy Organization Report:

• "400 million persons worldwide have allergic rhinitis."
• "Approximately US $20 billion are spent globally each year in relation to allergic rhinitis."
• "An estimated 300 million persons worldwide have asthma."
• "The estimated costs exceeding those of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS combined"
• "Comparative data indicate that allergen immunotherapy (SIT) is a potent long-term treatment capable of reducing the severity of allergic rhinitis and asthma."
• "Data indicate that the use of immunotherapy to treat children with allergic rhinitis reduces the subsequent development of asthma."
• "An increased use of immunotherapy in the future seems likely."

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