iBio Selected by IBM Watson Health for the use of IBM Clinical Development Solution at No Cost to help Support clinical COVID-19 Vaccine Candidates

NEW YORK, June 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- iBio, Inc. (NYSE AMERICAN:IBIO) (“iBio” or the “Company”), a biologics contract manufacturing organization and biotechnology company, today announced that IBM Watson Health has selected iBio to receive 18 months of use of the IBM Clinical Development (ICD) solution, free-of-charge.

IBM Watson Health recently began offering its ICD solution to eligible trial sponsor organizations as part of its efforts to help support the medical community to address the COVID-19 pandemic. IBM Watson Health has received interest in the offering from numerous hospitals, sponsors, contract research organizations and academic institutions, and is currently enabling 15 COVID-19 disease trials.

“We are deeply appreciative of IBM’s vote-of-confidence, which recognizes the potential of iBio’s COVID-19 vaccine development efforts from among the hundreds of organizations that applied for access to IBM’s ICD solution,” said Tom Isett, Co-Chairman & CEO of iBio. “This technology helps to support the rapid and efficient undertaking of clinical trials of iBio’s COVID-19 vaccine candidates. It also complements our FastPharming System’s core speed, quality and scale-up advantages in the development of vaccines and therapeutics. Through strategic collaborations like this one, we believe iBio is now poised with the tools, technology and capital necessary to compete in the fight against COVID-19.”    

iBio currently anticipates that data from the preclinical immunization studies of its two COVID-19 vaccine candidates, IBIO-200 and IBIO-201, which are being conducted at Texas A&M University System laboratories, will be available in Q3-2020.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global public health crisis and there is an increasing sense of urgency to develop safe and effective treatments as infection rates continue to escalate at an alarming rate,” said Mary Varghese Presti, Vice President, Life Sciences, IBM Watson Health. “We are committed to leveraging our ICD solution to help accelerate the timelines for COVID-19 clinical trials and are enabling access to the platform, free of charge, for relevant trial sponsors. We are inspired by iBio’s commitment, as well as all of the other leaders in the life sciences community, as they apply their expertise and ingenuity to help millions of patients worldwide. IBM is proud to play a meaningful role in this ambitious effort.”

ICD is a unified, SaaS-based electronic data capture (EDC) platform, designed to provide end-to-end visibility as well as patient, site, and clinical trial management capabilities. ICD is designed to help clinical trial sponsors and clinical site staff reduce the time and cost of clinical trials by centralizing and organizing information, providing 24/7 access to clinical trial data via a single URL from any web-enabled device, and providing a flexible and scalable data management platform to help design and manage clinical trials by incorporating optional clinical trial-specific features and services.

About iBio’s COVID-19 Vaccine Development Program

On March 11, 2020, the Company filed four provisional patent applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in support of its COVID-19 vaccine platforms. The virus-like particle (“VLP”) program (“IBIO-200”) was subsequently announced on March 18, 2020. The LicKM-Subunit program (“IBIO-201”) was announced on June 3, 2020. If the program(s) move into clinical trials, iBio has the capability to rapidly develop and manufacture at clinical and commercial scales in its 130,000 square foot facility in Bryan, Texas. Originally built in 2010 with funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), iBio’s FastPharming Facility^TM was part of the “Blue Angel” initiative to establish factories capable of rapid delivery of medical countermeasures in response to a disease pandemic.

About iBio, Inc.

iBio is a global leader in plant-based biologics manufacturing. Its FastPharming System™ combines vertical farming, automated hydroponics, and glycan engineering technologies to rapidly deliver high-quality monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, bioinks and other proteins. The Company’s subsidiary, iBio CDMO LLC, provides FastPharming Contract Development and Manufacturing Services. iBio’s FastGlycaneering Development Service™ includes an array of new glycosylation technologies for engineering high-performance recombinant proteins. Additionally, iBio is developing proprietary products, which include IBIO-100 for the treatment of fibrotic diseases, and vaccines for COVID-19 disease. For more information, visit www.ibioinc.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and include statements regarding the Company being now poised with the tools, technology and capital necessary to compete in the fight against COVID-19,  clinical trials of the Company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidates being rapidly and efficiently undertaken, the Company having the capability to rapidly develop and manufacture at clinical and commercial scales and from the preclinical immunization studies of IBIO-200 and IBIO-201 being available in Q3-2020. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations and assumptions from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, the Company’s ability to obtain regulatory approvals for commercialization of its product candidates, including its COVID-19 vaccine, or to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements, regulatory limitations relating to its ability to promote or commercialize its product candidates for specific indications, acceptance of its product candidates in the marketplace and the successful development, marketing or sale of products, its ability to maintain its license agreements, the continued maintenance and growth of its patent estate, its ability to establish and maintain collaborations, its ability to obtain or maintain the capital or grants necessary to fund its research and development activities, competition, its ability to retain its key employees or maintain its NYSE American listing, and the other factors discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2019 and the Company’s subsequent filings with the SEC, including subsequent periodic reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. The information in this release is provided only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release on account of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

Contacts:

Stephen Kilmer
iBio, Inc.
Investor Relations
(646) 274-3580
[email protected]