SkinBioTherapeutics’s wholly owned subsidiary, AxisBiotix, has signed a development agreement with Winclove Probiotics to help manage the symptoms associated with the skin condition, psoriasis.
SkinBioTherapeutics and Winclove will design and develop a probiotic blend of ‘good’ bacterial strains based on the modifying properties of specific bacterial species on known psoriasis disease pathways.
This blend will be developed into a probiotic food supplement which will be called AxisBiotix.
Stuart Ashman, CEO of SkinBioTherapeutics, said: “There is strong scientific evidence pointing to a link between gut dysfunction, stress-induced alterations to the gut microbiome and skin inflammation.”
SkinBioTherapeutics will be responsible for the identification and selection of the bacterial strains and patient testing; Winclove will be responsible for the formulation and manufacture of AxisBiotix.
The development agreement is for a period of three years but can be extended by mutual agreement. Each party retains ownership of its respective intellectual property and will be responsible for their own costs in relation to the development programme.
Pre-commercialisation
As a pre-requisite to commercialisation, AxisBiotix will be tested in a UK human study for patients suffering from mild to moderate psoriasis. The study, to be managed by SkinBioTherapeutics, is expected to start in 2020 and is estimated to take approximately 12-18 months to complete.
On the basis of a positive read-out, SkinBioTherapeutics will then proceed with commercialisation and the parties have stated their intention for a commercial launch within 24 months of the completed development programme.
Psoriasis is a debilitating skin condition caused by a malfunction of the immune system whereby skin cells are replaced more quickly than normal. This causes an accumulation of skin cells which build up to form raised ‘plaques’ on the skin, which can also be flaky, scaly and itchy. There is no cure; mainstay therapies tend to be steroid-based, which cannot be used long term and have side effects.
Worldwide, approximately 2% of the population is believed to suffer from the condition.
“This agreement with Winclove represents the next phase of SkinBioTherapeutics’ strategy to develop new avenues of microbiome-based technology, this time focused on the gut-skin axis,” Ashamn explained. “It also represents the second phase of our strategic plan, following our recent agreement with Croda plc in the active skincare sector.”