Tick saliva as a business opportunity

OVERMAN74@HOTMAIL.COM 2006-04-03 15:00:42

Ticking the right boxes

The humble tick isn't often viewed as an ally of human health (see page
524), but one British biotechnology company is banking on its hidden
charms.

Reading-based Evolutec holds patent rights on a number ot proteins
found in the saliva ot ticks, and some are already showing clinical
promise, particularly for the treatment ot allergies and inflammation.

T he proteins' potency derives from a tick's need to evade detection
while it feeds on its animal host. Its saliva contains a number of
molecules that suppress its victim's immune response, allowing the tick
to feed tor days unnoticed.

"It's the tick's stealth technology," says Mark Carnegie Brown,
Evo-lutec's chief executive, adding that it's a technology that is
yielding molecules with therapeutic potential.
The story began almost 20 years ago at a laboratory in Oxford run by
the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), when researchers led
by virologist Patricia Nuttall started investigating how ticks use
proteins in their saliva to suppress the immune system of their hosts.
Nuttall, who now directs the NERC's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in
Swindon, soon discovered an array of proteins of interest. "These
molecules have been refined by millions of years of evolution," she
explains. There are no toxicity problems, they work on a range ot
animals, they aren't fragile - and there are an awful lot of them."
One of the most promising proteins, dubbed rEVl31, binds to histamine,
which, when produced by the body m excessive amounts, is associated
with allergies and inflammation. Anti-inflammatory drugs tend to work
by blocking one of at least four different histamine receptors in the
body, but Nuttall describes r^VBl s behaviour as "much more efficient".
The tick protein grabs hold of the histamine rtself and so stops it
binding to the receptors.
The commercial potential seemed clear, and m 1998 Evolutec emerged as
the first spin-off company from the MERC, backed by 3i, the
London-based venture-capital group. The Patents were held b-. the NERC,
rather than
the scientists, and the company was set up separately from the research
team - although Nuttall served as a non-executive director from 2000
to 2003, and is still advising the company c'i the possibility of using
the proteins to vaccinate animals against ticks.
Last year, rEV131 was shown to be effective for treating hay fever in a
second-stage clinical trial run by Paul Rattier, an allergist who runs
Svlvana Research in San Antonio, Texas. Evolutec plans to run a second
phase II trial this year to determine the right dose and frequency for
the therapy. This stage will be critical to the company's prospects for
making it big, says Michael Aitken-head, an analyst at Bridgewell
Securities in London. Last September, Bridgewell organized Evolutec's
second round of financing in 2005; between them, the two rounds raised
nearly Ł20 million (US$36 million) from institutional investors.
Evolutec, which was first listed on London's Alternative Investment
Market in August 2004, has a small core of just 11 tull-time staff. It
subcontracts out many operations including the running ot clinical
trials, and has enough cash to keep going for another 18 months as it
searches for a partner to take rEVl 31 through the large, phase III
trials needed for regulatory approval. The tick protein is also in
trials for suppressing inflammation after cataract surgery and for
treating 'dry eye'. But it is only one of 16 proteins from tick saliva
that Evolutec holds patents on or applied to patent; some show promise
in animals for treating heart attacks and autoimmune diseases. The firm
also has a partnership with animal-health company Merial of Duluth,
Georgia, to use one of the proteins as a vaccine against both ticks and
tick-borne diseases in cattle.
Carnegie Brown says he jumped at the
chance to join the young company in 2003 "(or
the opportunity to build a business with some
really fascinating technology". The company
has enough funds to do at least three clinical
trials in 2006, he says: "There's a whole series
ot strings to our bow." Ť
Colin Macilwain

Nature Feb 2006

The humble tick isn't often viewed as an
\ ally of human health (see page 524), but one British biotechnology
company is banking on its hidden charms.
Reading-based Evolutec holds patent rights on a number ot proteins
found in the saliva ot ticks, and some are already showing clinical
promise, particularly for the treatment ot allergies and inflammation.
'The proteins' potency derives from a tick's need to evade detection
while it feeds on its animal host. Its saliva contains a number of
molecules that suppress its victim's immune response, allowing the tick
to feed tor days unnoticed.
"It's the tick's stealth technology," says Mark Carnegie Brown,
Evo-lutec's chief executive, adding that it's a technology that is
yielding molecules with therapeutic potential.
The story began almost 20 years ago at a laboratory in Oxford run by
the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), when researchers led
by virologist Patricia Nuttall started investigating how ticks use
proteins in their saliva to suppress the immune system of their hosts.
Nuttall, who now directs the NERC's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in
Swindon, soon discovered an array of proteins of interest. "These
molecules have been refined by millions of years of evolution," she
explains. There are no toxicity problems, they work on a range ot
animals, they aren't fragile - and there are an awful lot of them."
One of the most promising proteins, dubbed rEVl31, binds to histamine,
which, when produced by the body m excessive amounts, is associated
with allergies and inflammation. Anti-inflammatory drugs tend to work
by blocking one of at least four different histamine receptors in the
body, but Nuttall describes r^VBl s behaviour as "much more efficient".
The tick protein grabs hold of the histamine rtself and so stops it
binding to the receptors.
The commercial potential seemed clear, and in 1998 Evolutec emerged as
the first spin-off company from the MERC, backed by 3i, the
London-based venture-capital group. The Patents were held by the NERC,
rather than
the scientists, and the company was set up separately from the research
team - although Nuttall served as a non-executive director from 2000
to 2003, and is still advising the company on the possibility of using
the proteins to vaccinate animals against ticks.
Last year, rEV131 was shown to be effective for treating hay fever in a
second-stage clinical trial run by Paul Rattier, an allergist who runs
Svlvana Research in San Antonio, Texas. Evolutec plans to run a second
phase II trial this year to determine the right dose and frequency for
the therapy. This stage will be critical to the company's prospects for
making it big, says Michael Aitken-head, an analyst at Bridgewell
Securities in London. Last September, Bridgewell organized Evolutec's
second round of financing in 2005; between them, the two rounds raised
nearly Ł20 million (US$36 million) from institutional investors.
Evolutec, which was first listed on London's Alternative Investment
Market in August 2004, has a small core of just 11 tull-time staff. It
subcontracts out many operations including the running ot clinical
trials, and has enough cash to keep going for another 18 months as it
searches for a partner to take rEVl 31 through the large, phase III
trials needed for regulatory approval. The tick protein is also in
trials for suppressing inflammation after cataract surgery and for
treating 'dry eye'. But it is only one of 16 proteins trom tick saliva
that Evolutec holds patents on or applied to patent; some show promise
in animals for treating heart attacks and autoimmune diseases. The firm
also has a partnership with animal-health company Merial of Duluth,
Georgia, to use one of the proteins as a vaccine against both ticks and
tick-borne diseases in cattle.

Carnegie Brown says he jumped at the
chance to join the young company in 2003 "(or
the opportunity to build a business with some
really fascinating technology". The company
has enough funds to do at least three clinical
trials in 2006, he says: "There's a whole series
ot strings to our bow."=09

Colin Macilwain