Use vaccines to meet needs of the infectious diseases market
BioDiem now aims to leverage its partnerships and expertise in the development of new vaccines by turning its attention to addressing major threats represented by infectious diseases that disproportionately affect the developing world. These include examples like the parasitic diseases dengue fever, malaria, and schistosomiasis, as well as viral infection-related cancers such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

BioDiem is seeking to address diseases like these in two main ways. Firstly, by developing new vaccines, and secondly by using its antimicrobial program that focuses on a drug compound called BDM-I. Work conducted at US Government-backed medical research institutions has demonstrated BDM-I's activity against a range of disease-causing fungi, bacteria, and protozoa (a type of microbe). BDM-I acts as a broad spectrum agent with huge potential that may access a variety of very large markets as the antifungal market alone was valued at $9.4 billion in 2010, while the antibacterial market is estimated to exceed an astounding $46 billion by 2015.

In addition to these applications, BioDiem has recently strengthened BDM-I's position with granted patents in Europe and America covering the compound's activity against key agents responsible for malaria, the sexually transmitted disease trichomoniasis, and the common female health complaint vulvovaginitis (inflammation of the vagina).

BioDiem intends to move BDM-I into next phase of development using animal models in the next 12 months. We are excited about the diverse potential of this asset and its demonstrated effectiveness against a variety of troublesome organisms such as schistosomiasis which particularly threaten developing markets.

New uses for a core technology
In a way accepting of our status as a small player, BioDiem also plans to develop new types of vaccine efficiently by leveraging core in-house expertise with the LAIV, upon which our existing vaccine licensing business is based. BioDiem plans to engineer a LAIV viral vector: essentially a smart way of changing a virus so it can ‘jump start' the immune system, and can potentially be used as a therapeutic treatment for many diseases.