Immunic Inc (NASDAQ:IMUX) CEO Dr Daniel Vitt talked with Proactive about the company’s strong presence at BIO-Europe 2025 and the growing momentum behind its late-stage clinical programs.
Vitt discussed the progress of Immunic’s lead asset vidofludimus calcium, particularly its ongoing ENSURE Phase 3 trials for multiple sclerosis, which are fully enrolled and expected to report data at the end of 2026.
In addition, Dr Vitt pointed to continued progress in Immunic’s gastrointestinal program, IMU-856, which has shown promising data in celiac disease and GLP-1 upregulation. The company is exploring further development and potential partnerships for this asset.
Proactive: Hello you're watching Proactive, I'm joined by Dr Daniel Vitt, the CEO of Immunic. Daniel, very good to speak with you. You've just attended BIO-Europe 2025, which brought together industry leaders from across the world in Vienna. How would you describe the atmosphere at this year’s conference?
Dr Daniel Vitt: It's a very exciting, active, energetic meeting — a lot of areas covered. I think it’s maybe in Europe one of the most important conferences, which brings together investors, business development people, and science. So I think it’s really a broad coverage. I also see a lot of international attendance from the US and also from Asia. So it's an important meeting.
At the conference, the international biotech community was brought together in a German-speaking setting. So a natural fit for Immunic with its German roots. How did this year's location and audience support your goals?
Well, it was in a German-speaking country, but it was a very international meeting. It's English-speaking at the end. For us, it’s good to be present there because we do a lot in the US on networking, being in New York. I think it’s clearly US-focused, and it’s good to also have direct access to companies and investors in Europe. So, yeah, it was good to be there.
And what kind of feedback did you receive on Immunic’s clinical programs and scientific direction, and are there any insights that particularly stood out?
It’s all about multiple sclerosis right now. We have two things we speak about and where we got all the interest from external partners. It's really about our Phase 3 ENSURE studies. As you remember, these studies are fully enrolled, and we expect them to read out at the end of next year. So we’re now running into the year of Phase 3 readouts for the company. This is an important step not only in the context of business development but also for investors. I think it's a unique growth story and has the ability to address a multi-billion market opportunity. Vidofludimus calcium is positioned very nicely as a dual acting molecule, being a first-in-class Nurr-1 activator. It really makes it exciting for a lot of people.
But we also see interest in our GI program, IMU-856, where we have reported very nice proof-of-concept data from celiac disease. And going forward, in the context of a recent report, additional data showed that the drug in celiac disease patients has shown upregulation of GLP-1. That makes it quite an interesting opportunity as well. So all in all, it was a diverse discussion with investors and potential partners for both programs — a good experience.
Daniel, as you return from Vienna, how did the insights and connections from BIO-Europe shape Immunic’s outlook and priorities moving forward?
Well, it’s all in the context of our strategy. On the one hand, bringing vidofludimus calcium to the market, and as a next step, to read out the Phase 3 data next year. And of course, also to progress or find good ways to progress IMU-856 in clinical trials and develop it further. A partnership could be a good path here. It fits nicely into the global context of the work we’re doing and the discussions and meetings we are having in the United States, and also in upcoming conferences like the Jefferies Healthcare Week in two weeks.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style