Our next Congress Conversation from the event in Barcelona last month is with Andreas Regnery, who represented Belyntic in our start-up zone. It’s great to hear from our start-up community about the innovation that they are bringing to the scene, and to learn how the Congress gives them a platform for making change. If you are interested in joining us as a start-up at a future event, please get in touch with Isabella Aung (isabella.aung@terrapinn.com) for more information. We hope you enjoy the interview!
Introducing Andreas
Andreas kindly introduces himself as “co-founder and managing director” of Belyntic (you can also find them on LinkedIn). He and his colleague, Oliver, combine different experience, with Andreas bringing a more business-focused approach to the organisation. Belyntic is “the precision vaccines company”, stating that it targets viral infections with “novel precision vaccines”.
Unmet disease needs
Belyntic’s website describes how the team targets diseases with a “clear unmet medical need”. So, what kind of diseases are these? Andreas suggests that they are “particularly targeting viral diseases, especially those that have a high seroprevalence”. He refers to the first asset that they want to develop: a prophylactic CMV vaccine. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is “usually harmless” but can be problematic for young infants and people with weakened immune systems. Andreas states that, depending on the sub-population, the seroprevalence can be up to 97%.
“These are very abundant viruses around the world, and they can break out, especially in immunosuppressed people…these diseases can cause really a lot of pain.”
Talking technology
The diseases in question pose an “unmet” need, so how does Andreas’ team hope to tackle them? Belyntic stresses “an emphasis on safe induction of cellular immunity”, so we asked about how this is achieved.
“Compared to other approaches, we’re really particularly focusing on T cell immune response, which does not mean that we solely induce T cell responses, but we have so-called self-adjuvant vaccines.”
These vaccines include MHC I and MHC II epitopes. Andreas explains that a “particular strength” of the technology is that they “only induce the minimum sequence of an antigen that is proven to be very immunogenic”.
“Therefore we have a very targeted immune response.”
With a focus on reactivation of viruses, the team ensures that the target population, for example immunosuppressed patients, is immunologically prepared to “defend” against disease.
“We’re convinced we have a solution”
When we speak to our start-ups we often ask about the difficulties or opportunities they identify in ‘breaking in’ to the vaccine space; how receptive is the community?
“Yeah, I think we are here because we are convinced that we have a solution for a really unmet area.”
However, Andreas recognises that due to the “tremendous success of mRNA vaccines” in the COVID-19 pandemic some people take an mRNA-or-nothing approach!
“But of course there are other technologies around as well, that in my opinion all have their advantages…and so do we.”
Andreas reflects that it takes “extra convincing” to convey the importance of non-mRNA vaccines, especially with peptide-based vaccines; they have had a “rather mixed history”.
“But it’s also lessons learned, I mean what we do is completely new, and we’ve overcome a lot of the past disadvantages.”
Could this technology be as revolutionary as mRNA was during COVID-19? Andreas certainly hopes so!
What does the future hold?
Andreas mentions future pandemics or viral threats, and we asked what the future holds for him and his team. He states that the focus is on “unmet medical needs” in viral diseases: “this is what we want to tackle”.
“Even though we just had the pandemic, and everyone around the world knows what this can cause patients…it’s still true that a lot of viruses are completely unmet.”
He calls for “much more work” on these areas.
“We hope that we as a company can help to tackle these problems, and that’s why we’re around!”
Why WVC?
Our final question, as always, uncovers our interviewee’s reasons for attending the Congress!
“I’m looking forward to meeting other innovative people…here you don’t need to convince others that vaccines are really important.”
He also was looking forward to seeing other innovations and connecting with people with “similar backgrounds and similar interests”, so we hope this was a productive time for it!
We were thrilled to speak to Andreas about his work and his time at our event, and hope you enjoyed learning more about his team’s work. For more, visit the website and don’t forget to get in touch if you would like to join Belyntic in the start-up zone in the future! For more insights and interviews, don’t forget to subscribe here.
