Poolbeg Pharma PLC Announces AI Led Programme Identifies Influenza Drug Targets

• AI analysis of unique human challenge trial data provides unparalleled insights into influenza infection
• Novel influenza drug targets identified faster and more cost-effectively using AI

Poolbeg Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on infectious and other prevalent diseases with a high unmet medical need, announces a significant breakthrough in its world first influenza Artificial Intelligence ('AI') Programme with CytoReason. Poolbeg has been working with CytoReason since March 2022.

Poolbeg's unique disease progression data from influenza human challenge trials combined with CytoReason's broad repositories of curated disease data were analysed using CytoReason's industry-leading AI-led platform. The analysis has led to the discovery of multiple novel drug targets for the treatment of influenza.

Identification of drug targets from this unique data-set has previously been successful as p38 MAP Kinase, inhibited by POLB 001, was identified as a driver of severe influenza but this required manual analysis that took several years. However, through the utilisation of CytoReason's cutting-edge AI technology, Poolbeg has now identified multiple novel drug targets in just 15 months. Moreover, CytoReason's analysis independently confirmed the significance of the p38 MAP kinase pathway in influenza, providing further validation for Poolbeg's POLB 001 programme.

The Company is actively exploring the most effective way to further develop the novel drug targets in order to generate value and looks forward to updating shareholders about the progress of this programme in due course. This marks Poolbeg's second successful AI Programme, following the identification of potential new drug candidates for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) announced in December 2022.

Jeremy Skillington, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Poolbeg Pharma, commented:
"Our collaboration with CytoReason has put Poolbeg at the forefront of AI drug discovery. CytoReason's deep interrogation of the uniquely rich data derived from human challenge trials has deepened our knowledge of influenza, resulting in the identification of multiple novel influenza drug targets. There is a significant unmet need for new and better treatments for vulnerable patients with influenza and this is a major milestone in the delivery of new therapies that can improve patient outcomes and global health."

David Harel, Chief Executive Officer of CytoReason, said:
"Once again, we're pleased to see that leveraging CytoReason's computational disease models to extract insights from Poolbeg's unique human challenge data can optimise the target discovery process. More importantly, these impressive results would not be possible without the commitment, transparency, and reciprocity of both teams."

Further detail on the power of human challenge trial data
Poolbeg Pharma has access to a unique repository of clinical samples and associated data from human challenge trials. Data from human challenge trials are unique in that they track a healthy subject through disease to recovery in carefully controlled and monitored isolation units, collecting samples throughout the course of disease, and vitally collecting matched baseline and follow-up samples before and after infection. This data is unique in the depth of longitudinal virology, health, biomarker and symptom data collected during the course of disease.

About Influenza
Influenza is a viral pathogen that infects approximately one-eighth of the world's population each year, an estimated 1 billion people are infected globally, attacking the respiratory system and leading to between 5 and 10 million hospitalisations and as many as 500,000 influenza related deaths. Survivors of influenza can suffer organ damage, leading to chronic and life-changing injuries.