Opsona Therapeutics

Opsona Therapeutics was a drug development company specialising in the human immune system and new drugs and vaccines to prevent and treat autoimmune/inflammatory conditions, cancers and infectious diseases.[1][2][3]

Based in Ireland, Opsona was a spin-out from Trinity College Dublin (TCD).[4] Ireland is ranked highly in the world in immunology research, and TCD has been at the forefront of the field.[5]

Opsona's research was primarily focused on the role of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and TLR signalling in human innate immunity. The company was founded in 2004 by three immunologists:

The company went into liquidation in 2019 after unsuccessful clinical trials, and failure to find a buyer for OPN-305.

Opsona's main investors were international and life-science focused:

  • Professor Luke O'Neill[6]
  • Professor Kingston Mills[7]
  • Professor Dermot P. Kelleher[8]
  • Inventages Venture Capital (Bahamas)[9]
  • Seroba Bioventures (Ireland)
  • GenenFund (United States)
  • Enterprise Ireland (Ireland)[10]

References

  1. Ireland's got talent retrieved 27 February 2018^
  2. Sunday Business Post article retrieved 27 February 2018^
  3. Opsona Therapeutics Limited: Private Company Information - Bloomberg investing.businessweek.com, retrieved 27 February 2018^
  4. Emerging finalist: Mark Heffernan Opsona Therapeutics retrieved 27 February 2018^
  5. Times Higher Education Supplement - QS World University Rankings 2007^
  6. Trinity team makes vaccine discovery 4 May 2009, retrieved 27 February 2018^
  7. Kingston Mills - Research : School of Biochemistry and Immunology : Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, Ireland www.tcd.ie, retrieved 27 February 2018^
  8. Article on the Trinity College Dublin website retrieved 27 February 2018^
  9. Opsona Therapeutics Closes EUR18M Funding - FierceBiotech www.fiercebiotech.com, retrieved 27 February 2018^
  10. PR Newswire article retrieved 27 February 2018^