Pulmocide is a privately held
biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery and development of inhaled
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
for the treatment of life-threatening
fungal
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...
and
viral infections of the
respiratory tract
The respiratory tract is the subdivision of the respiratory system involved with the process of respiration in mammals. The respiratory tract is lined with respiratory epithelium as respiratory mucosa.
Air is breathed in through the nose to th ...
. The company is based in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and has a laboratory at the
Imperial College’s Innovation Hub.
History
Pulmocide was formed in 2007 by Garth Rapeport (
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
) and Pete Strong (
CSO) who previously co-founded RespiVert Ltd alongside
Peter J. Barnes and Kazuhiro Ito.
RespiVert was acquired by a division of
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...
in 2010.
[
In March 2017, Pulmocide raised $30 million in Series B Financing. The round was led by SR One and included Longwood Fund, SV Life Sciences, F-Prime Capital, Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Touchstone Innovations plc.
]
Drug development
Pulmocide is conducting phase 2 trials
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...
with PC945, a potent inhaled antifungal
An antifungal medication, also known as an antimycotic medication, is a pharmaceutical fungicide or fungistatic used to treat and prevent mycosis such as athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis (thrush), serious systemic infections such as crypto ...
agent for the treatment of Aspergillus infections of the lung in patients with asthma
Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...
, cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...
or following lung transplantation
Lung transplantation, or pulmonary transplantation, is a surgical procedure in which one or both lungs are replaced by lungs from a donor. Donor lungs can be retrieved from a living or deceased donor. A living donor can only donate one lung lobe. ...
.Human orthopneumovirus
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), also called human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) and human orthopneumovirus, is a common, contagious virus that causes infections of the respiratory tract. It is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus. ...
, formerly Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV).[ A recent in-silico study on PC786 has been published in Science Advances, AAAS, that showed improved binding efficacy against the ]Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a No ...
.
In July 2019, Pulmocide announced a Scientific Reports (Nature Research) publication showing PC945 in combination with standard antifungal treatment causes a synergistic effect against Aspergillus fumigatus.
References
External links
{{Official website, pulmocide.com
Organisations associated with Imperial College London
Pharmaceutical companies established in 2007