Lallemand Pharma and GlaxoSmithKline partner to launch ISMIGEN in Poland

Lallemand Pharma Europe and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced today the launch of ISMIGEN® in Poland. For the occasion a medical symposium organized by GSK and dedicated to pneumologists and allergologists was hold today in Warsaw. ISMIGEN® is a Polyvalent Mechanical Bacterial Lysate (PMBL), also described as oral vaccine. It is produced by Lallemand and recommended in the prevention of acute, sub-acute, recurrent or chronic infections of the upper and lower airways and the bronchopulmonary tree. According to the World Health Organization, respiratory diseases represent today a soaring public health concern around the world.

Warsaw’s symposium was the opportunity to discuss up-to-date data and applications of ISMIGEN® with leading lung experts. Professor M. Cazzola, Chief of the Respiratory Clinical Pharmacology Unit at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, gave a lecture titled: ‘Bacterial extracts for the prevention of acute exacerbations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)’. Professor Cazzola devoted his research to pharmacology of airway diseases, and he was the co-chairman of the European Respiratory Society/American Thoracic Society Task Force “Outcomes for COPD pharmacological trials: from lung function to biomarkers”. He was involved in several clinical trials with ISMIGEN.

The primary therapeutic areas for Polyvalent Mechanical Bacterial Lysates (PMBL) are infections of the upper and lower respiratory tract. PMBL have already proven effective in the prophylaxis of exacerbations in COPD (M. Cazzola, 2006; 2009), a major public health concern. According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, 210 million people suffer from COPD in the world, and 3 million people died of COPD in 2005. WHO predicts that COPD will become the third leading cause of mortality worldwide by 2030 (source: WHO, 2007).

PMBL have also shown strong potential in the fight against bacterial infections that constitute the major complication of viral respiratory infections, another area of significant medical interest.

Lallemand’s PMBL are recognized for their unique immunostimulating properties, demonstrated in several clinical trials. Mechanical bacterial lysates distinguish themselves from traditional chemical lysates by their production process: they are prepared from a large array of inactivated pathogenic bacteria via mechanical lysis. When compared to chemical lysis, this process ensures optimal preservation of the pathogens’ antigens structure. This, combined with the large variety of pathogens used (13 strains), and its sublingual mode of administration, confer to ISMIGEN® optimal immunogenic activity.