Innovation Pharmaceuticals Announces New Antifungal Testing of Brilacidin by NIH/NIAID-Affiliated and Other Academic Researchers

WAKEFIELD, MA / March 15, 2023 Innovation Pharmaceuticals (OTCQB:IPIX) (“the Company”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today that based on positive findings new testing of Brilacidin in additional in vitro and in vivo models against hard-to-treat fungal pathogens is planned by NIH/NIAID-affiliated and other academic researchers. Brilacidin is the Company’s defensin mimetic drug candidate exhibiting antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties.

Extensive in vitro testing of Brilacidin by these research groups against multiple pathogenic human fungi has been completed. Across all pre-clinical studies conducted to date, Brilacidin has now exhibited varying degrees of inhibition against 13 of 19 “priority” fungal pathogens identified by the World Health Organization in need of novel treatments.

Summary of Research Results
Comparable to findings observed in testing by scientists at the University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazil, Brilacidin showed potent stand-alone inhibition in multiple isolates of C. neoformans, for which few effective treatments exist. C. neoformans causes approximately 220,000 cases of cryptococcal meningitis worldwide each year and is associated with an 80 percent mortality rate. Brilacidin showed promising stand-alone inhibition as well in multiple isolates of Mucorales, Fusarium sp., C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, C. guillermondii, Lomentospora prolificans, Scedosporium apiospermum, Blastomyces dermatitidis and Histoplasma capsulatum.

USP researchers have also shown Brilacidin to be synergistic with caspofungin in different types of fungi. Additive effects were similarly observed in Brilacidin combinations with voriconazole and geldanamycin against A. fumigatus, as well as with posaconazole against Mucorales. Separate in vitro laboratory testing evaluating Brilacidin in combination with other conventional antifungals – including caspofungin, fluconazole, posaconazole, amphotericin B and micafungin – demonstrated additive or synergistic inhibition of fungal growth.

Beyond Brilacidin’s broad-spectrum ability to directly inhibit fungal pathogens, Brilacidin may favorably modulate the host response to fungal infections.

Scientific Poster Presentations
In related news, Brilacidin antifungal data was accepted for a scientific poster presentation at the 16th Annual European Conference on Fungal Genetics (ECFG16), held in Innsbruck, Austria, March 5-8, 2023, based on research conducted at USP and other academic institutions. ECFG16 is the largest European conference focusing on fungal genetics and biology.

Additional antifungal research on Brilacidin’s potential to treat fungal keratitis was presented at the 2023 Gordon Research Conference on the Immunology of Fungal Infections (GRCIFI), held January 22-27, 2023, in Galveston Texas. The conference focused on advances in the mechanistic understanding of the immune response against clinically relevant fungal pathogens.