Ablynx, biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of nanobodies,  has received €1.68 million in grant funding from the Flemish Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) to help advance its first inhaled nanobody, ALX-0171, in infants. The grant funding, which is available over a period of one year, will also be used to explore novel applications of nebulised nanobodies.

A first phase I study in healthy volunteers demonstrated that the Nanobody was well-tolerated and had no clinical significant effects on lung function. Furthermore, no dose-limited toxicity, no treatment emergent immunogenicity and no bronchoconstriction occurred. The optimal delivery of the nanobody through nebulisation has been demonstrated in a reconstructed upper airway anatomical model of a nine-month old baby, showing significant deposition of ALX-0171 in the model infant lung.

An additional pre-clinical study and two additional safety studies are currently-on-going with the goal to commence the first-in-infant trial during H2 2014.

Dr Edwin Moses, chairman and CEO of Ablynx commented: "This grant is a clear endorsement of our pioneering approach in treating RSV infections in infants. ALX-0171 has the potential to address a high unmet medical need and could become a transformational anti-RSV treatment. The funding shows the commitment of IWT to continue to support innovations in Belgium."

ALX-0171 is a trivalent Nanobody that neutralises viral replication in the respiratory tract. Its physical robustness allows fast delivery directly into the lungs, i.e. the site of infection, through nebulisation.

RSV is a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and respiratory tract and is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children under one year of age. It is the leading cause of infant hospitalization and foremost viral cause of death in infants. Current treatment of patients infected with RSV is mostly symptomatic so there remains a high need for an effective and specific anti-RSV therapeutic drug.

Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of Nanobodies, a novel class of therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments, for a range of serious human diseases, including inflammation, haematology, oncology and pulmonary disease.