ImmuPharma PLC (AIM:IMM, FRA:25I), the AIM-listed specialist drug discovery and development company, is progressing discussions with a number of potential partners for its P140 autoimmune technology platform, including under signed confidentiality agreements, as it targets a value-enhancing licensing deal in 2026.
The company's management team attended the Bio-Europe Spring healthcare conference in Lisbon this week, where a number of meetings were held in relation to P140, which ImmuPharma describes as a core value driver for the business.
The partnering push is being supported by a series of developments designed to strengthen P140's scientific and intellectual property foundations.
ImmuPharma has received a first Combined Search and Examination Report (CSER) from the UK Intellectual Property Office in relation to its patent application for P140, filed last September.
The company said the supportive response was in line with management expectations at this stage of the examination process and represents a positive milestone.
ImmuPharma intends to build on the UK filing through a Patent Cooperation Treaty application, which would allow it to seek protection across key commercial territories.
In parallel, the company has completed a new study designed to stress-test the diagnostic test associated with P140 and bolster the statistical significance of the supporting dataset, with results described as positive.
The scientific team, led by chief scientific officer Dr Sébastien Goudreau and head of research and development Dr Laura Mauran, is now preparing a manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed journal.
ImmuPharma said it intends to share the findings more broadly with the scientific community following publication.
Dr Goudreau said the CSER, together with the new study results, represented an important step in strengthening the scientific and intellectual property foundation of the programme.
He added that the manuscript in preparation would help the wider scientific community understand what he described as the unique mechanism of P140 as a precision therapy for patients with Type M immune disorder, a condition in which the immune system malfunctions in a specific pattern across multiple autoimmune diseases.