York firm in deal with global giant to tackle body odour
The deal sees Aptamer develop a novel panel of Optimer binders targeting an extra biological pathway linked to forming body odours, potentially giving Unilever a second way to prevent body malodour.
The agreement is structured on a fee-for-service basis, with Aptamer receiving an undisclosed six-figure sum for the development work.
This new programme builds on the success of the initial programme, which focused on inhibiting a key bacterial enzyme involved in body odour production.
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Optimers from the initial programme have passed internal validation and lab-based testing, both at Aptamer and Unilever, with on-person performance trials anticipated in 2025.
Unilever commands over 30 per cent of the global deodorant market, compared to 10 per cent for its nearest competitor. With the sector expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.5 per cent over the next five years, the commercial opportunity for Aptamer in personal care is significant. This collaboration highlights the scalability and cross-sector potential of the Optimer platform, traditionally applied in therapeutic and diagnostic markets, and now entering the high-volume consumer health space.
Aptamer Group CEO Dr Arron Tolley (pictured) said: "I am excited by the additional project we are undertaking with Unilever. This project expands our partnership with Unilever in the odour control space. The excellent results produced by our team in the first project have resulted in a deepening partnership with Unilever, expanding on the applicability of our Optimer binders. 'The first project is now moving toward on-person trials, and this deal positions us well to create multiple, licensable assets with a global powerhouse in the consumer health market. This second programme reflects the confidence Unilever has in the Optimer platform and the significant value we can unlock by expanding our offering into novel, large-scale applications like personal care."
Dr Sam Samaras, Senior Vice President R&D, Unilever, said: 'This new project with Aptamer Group reflects the positive nature of the collaboration thus far. This was the first time that Unilever has examined Optimer binders in cosmetic applications and the data so far have shown encouraging results. We have agreed on a follow up project targeting novel approaches for odour control using Optimer technology. We will continue to engage with the world class team at Aptamer Group to explore this and additional opportunities.'
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Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are based on our beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to us. Accordingly, our actual results or other events may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements due to known or unknown risks and uncertainties that exist in our operations and business environment including, but not limited to: the successful integration of acquisitions; the regulatory environment; and competition, including technological advances. For additional information on these and other risks and uncertainties, please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion under "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Form 10-K and Forms 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. View source version on Contacts Investor Relations Contact: Mary 815-479-5658 Media Contact: Katie 815-479-5671
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'They're very useful in the right context,' he says, adding that he would like to see their use increase in primary care, since memory clinics are 'overloaded' with patients. In Kansas, for instance, there's only one such clinic in the state. If the blood test is positive, patients can go for an insurance-approved PET scan or spinal fluid testing to determine if they are eligible for the new drugs. If the amyloid diagnosis is confirmed, patients can be prescribed one of two monoclonal antibodies, both FDA-approved in 2023, that can slow disease progression by targeting and removing pathological amyloid deposits in the brain. 'It's the first time we can actually alter the trajectory of disease,' Cooper says. A Patient Story Jerry Klauer, 83, is living proof of this remarkable paradigm shift. Several years ago, his wife Jana, a retired physician, began noticing a troubling change in his memory. He was forgetting dates and plans, though he had been impeccably on time before. He also struggled to recall recent events, and his driving became unsafe. Through a connection at the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, Jerry got diagnosed with Alzheimer's after a positive blood-based biomarker test and a PET scan confirmed high amyloid buildup. He then became eligible to join a clinical trial of one of the monoclonal antibodies (which has since been FDA-approved). 'I was very fortunate to get into the program early,' says Jerry, who is a co-founder of the Wall Street boutique investment firm Gerard Klauer Mattison and Company. Though he acknowledges that the drug is not a cure, it reduced his amyloid and improved his symptoms. Before he started the drug, his amyloid had to be in a certain high range to qualify. Now, his amyloid measures in the normal range. 'He's stable,' Jana says. 'If he wasn't doing this, he would be getting worse. Is his memory what it was when he was 30 or 40 years told? No, but he lives his life. It's a wonderful life.' Early Intervention Matters Jerry's Alzheimer's disease was not very advanced when he started the monoclonal antibody. That is when the medicine can be most effective. 'In the past,' says Greg Cooper, 'although wrong, people had a nihilistic approach, saying why should I be in a hurry to get a diagnosis? Now the urgency for a diagnosis is compelling.' A major question the field is seeking to answer is just how early does it pay to get diagnosed? The pathological changes in the brain from Alzheimer's start 15 to 20 years before symptoms begin. Current clinical trials that read out in 2027 are testing whether patients who have confirmed amyloid, but zero cognitive decline, stand to benefit from the monoclonal antibodies. Burns predicts that if a benefit is substantiated, there will be a major paradigm shift in screening for Alzheimer's disease. 'It could be coming quickly if the trials of the new drugs work to reduce risk in this population. And if they do, then we will be in a whole different world. Then everyone over 65 should be screened.' That said, amyloid is not the whole story on preventing or delaying Alzheimer's onset. It's an early feature, but removing amyloid only slows, not stops, the disease. 'The focus now is can we stop or slow tau from accumulating?' Burns explains. Tau is a protein that builds up in dead or dying neurons in Alzheimer's disease, and it spreads through the brain. First the amyloid buildup starts, and appears to accelerate the tau. 'So pulling the amyloid out looks like it slows the tau accumulation, but doesn't stop it,' says Burns. An experimental drug in phase 2 clinical trials uses a new approach to reduce the accumulation of tau. 'The tau comes much later than the amyloid,' explains Donna Wilcock, Director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders at Indiana University School of Medicine. 'Amyloid usually precedes the detection of tangle pathology by maybe 10 years. So we may have a 10-year window of catching that amyloid before it starts downstream tau.' In the last decade, researchers have learned that there is a tipping point at which the tau pathology is self-propagating, and the presence or absence of amyloid doesn't affect the tau – dubbed the 'cataustrophe.' 'It seems as though the earlier we can get these amyloid-lowering therapies into patients,' Wilcock says, 'the better the outcome.' What You Can Do To Lower Risk All the experts interviewed for this article stressed the importance of healthy lifestyle habits, which may prevent up to 45.3% of all dementia cases according to the Lancet Commission. These factors are essential: controlling hypertension, blood sugar, and cholesterol, getting regular exercise and seven to eight hours of quality sleep, having an active social life, and eating a largely plant-based Mediterranean diet. 'Controlling a lot of these factors in the mid-life period has the biggest impact on how they affect your risk for dementia later in life,' says Wilcock. 'Mid-life untreated hypertension greatly increases your risk for dementia later in life.' Her own blood pressure started rising in her 40s, and she pushed her primary care doctor to manage it aggressively, noting that she had to 'self-advocate' to get her doctor to take it seriously. 'Through better brain health and attention to modifiable risk factors, how can we eliminate half of dementia before it ever starts?' asks Greg Cooper. 'And for other half, how can we identify it and successfully intervene before we ever have symptoms? It may sound hyperbolic, but I can at least imagine that day.' Jeff Burns concurs that it's an optimistic time for the field, with a broader array of approaches in development than ever before. As of 2023, there were over 140 drugs in clinical trials for Alzheimer's. For patients like Jerry Klauer, breakthrough science is already a clinical reality. Such encouraging experiences and the rapid pace of advancements over the last few years gives me great hope that one day, this terrible disease itself will be long you to Kira Peikoff for additional research and reporting on this article.
