Mucommune’s muco-trapping antibody technology enables antibodies – proteins in the immune system that fight intruders in the body – to immobilize viral and bacterial pathogens in different mucosal secretions, including respiratory airways, the gastrointestinal tract and the female reproductive tract.
For example, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes infections of the lungs and respiratory tract, and it’s a common virus that affects children. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in the United States nearly all children become infected with RSV by age two, with 75,000 to 125,000 hospitalized each year. Around the world, RSV affects an estimated 64 million people and causes more than 150,000 deaths each year.
Currently, there is no vaccine or treatment for RSV, but Lai and his team are targeting the virus as they develop antibodies to treat respiratory infections. An engineer by trade, Lai does not have a medical or biotechnology background, but he knew he was onto something important with the scientific discoveries that led him to launch Mucommune.
“We wanted to advance something that would have a health benefit, and we took interest in two of the mucosal surfaces- airways in the lungs and the female reproductive tract,” he adds. “In the lungs, there are many respiratory infections where there are no effective treatments available. We took inspiration in antibodies and discovered a real function for them in mucus.”
As he and his team continued to work on the muco-trapping antibody technology, they discovered they were making progress in both respiratory health and female reproductive health. As a result, the company split and formed Inhalon Biopharma to focus on the respiratory work, raising more than $4.0 million in non-dilutive funding, as well as securing initial investments from Breakout Labs, a fund that supports scientist-entrepreneurs as they transition their technologies out of the lab and into the market.
As the team explored applications in female reproductive health, it focused on addressing the lack of non-hormonal contraception. Many women do not like hormonal contraceptives due to side effects such as headaches, weight gain and mood changes; others have medical contraindications against hormonal contraceptives. With this research in mind, Lai and the team began to develop antibodies that could block sperm through mucus. As a result, they are working to use the muco-trapping antibody technology to develop a safe, groundbreaking non-hormonal contraceptive.