Cathal Friel CEO at Open Orphan plc (LON:ORPH) and Chairman of Poolbeg Pharma plc (LON:POLB) told DirectorsTalk,
“As an exciting step in our AI data analysis programme, Poolbeg Pharma plc has partnered with leading global biopharma services company, Eurofins Genomics to complete RNA sequencing for Poolbeg of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) disease progression samples from human viral challenge studies. This deep sequencing work is a key step leading to Poolbeg commencing Artificial Intelligence (AI) analysis of its RSV data and will mean that it then has full immunological datasets for RSV, as well as influenza, which are ready to use with AI platforms to identify drug targets and products for influenza and RSV indications. This data is unique as it covers the full disease cycle and presents significant opportunities to unlock insights into these diseases which will magnify the power of the AI analysis.
The project with Eurofins is expected to be completed by the end of 2021 and will involve next generation RNA sequencing of RSV transcriptomics, or disease progression data, which enables the tracking of the biology of immune responses in molecular detail during infection. Sequencing of the samples will be tailored for incorporation into AI algorithms which will be the first time that human challenge trial immune data has been analysed using AI, unlocking unique insights from the rich dataset that will enable us to discover new drug candidates for both diseases in a quicker and more cost-effective way.”
Poolbeg Pharma plc (LON:POLB) is a clinical stage infectious disease pharmaceutical company, with a novel capital light clinical model which enables them to develop multiple products faster and more cost effectively than the traditional biotech model.
Poolbeg aspires to become a “one-stop shop” for big pharma to find Phase II ready products for development and commercialisation.
