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The Impentri IMI2 consortium have been awarded a €3.6M grant by IMI, to develop an existing licensed drug, imatinib for the treatment of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) induced by COVID-19. Under the award, Exvastat will collaborate with Vrije Universitat (NL), Amsterdam Medical Center (NL), KABS (Canada) and Simbec-Orion (FR) to produce a reformulated version of the drug and test it in critically ill COVID-19 patients.

The trial will investigate the potential benefit to COVID-19 patients who lack any approved therapeutic options and enter intensive care, the critical juncture of maximum stress on healthcare resources. The trial is expected to enroll 110 COVID-19 patients following a 4- to 6-month reformulation programme. Unlike antiviral approaches, imatinib operates through the inhibition of the host response, reducing the pulmonary oedema that is correlated with mortality in all forms of ARDS, and is therefore anticipated to be a robust mechanism against viral mutations.

Exvastat Ltd is a single asset biopharmaceutical company established in 2016, that is working to identify and advance a reformulated version of imatinib for the treatment of serious and life-threatening conditions in patient populations with signiﬁcant areas of unmet need, including ARDS.

Exvastat Ltd is the project coordinator for the Impentri IMI2 consortium.

KABS offers a broad range of product development services to the bio-pharmaceutical industry, worldwide. Their team of specialists support development programs from initial discovery to Ph III and commercialization.
KABS will be providing the clinical supplies for the IV formulation of Impentri

Simbec-Orion provide clinical trial management services across a wide range of therapeutic indications and phases, but with a passion for rare diseases such as ARDS. The business is designed for small to medium drug developers, understanding the importance of meeting milestones to secure investor confidence.

Simbec-Orion will be supporting the clinical trials using Impentri.

Vrije Universiteit Medical Center (VUmc) stands for distinctive scientific research in combination with patient care and high-quality scientific education. The innovative research leads to better insight into the development of diseases and to progress in the treatment thereof. The campus VUMC hosts the university medical center, the medical faculty as well as VU University, internationally renowned research institutes like Amsterdam Cardiovascular Science, Amsterdam Neuroscience and the Cancer Center Amsterdam. Thus, VUMC “translates” the promising results from scientific research into application for the patient. This includes new medicines and treatments, but also prevention and diagnostics.

The Academic Medical Center (AMC) complex houses the university hospital and the faculty of medicine of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) as well as the Emma Children’s Hospital, the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, the Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging and the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development. A number of biotech companies (some of which are AMC spin-offs) are also located on the premises. This concentration of expertise makes the centre a breeding ground for fruitful scientific collaboration.

The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is working to improve health by speeding up the development of, and patient access to, the next generation of medicines, particularly in areas where there is an unmet medical or social need.

IMI is a partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry, represented by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).