ENA Respiratory Appoints International Pharma Experts as Strategic Advisors to Support Development of INNA-051 Antiviral Host Defence Enhancer

/EIN News/ -- MELBOURNE, Australia, May 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ENA Respiratory, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing antiviral host defence enhancers to minimize the impact of viral respiratory infections, announces today that it has appointed Kenny Simmen PhD and Alison Humbles PhD as Strategic Advisors.

Dr Simmen and Dr Humbles bring decades of experience gained in big pharma, specifically within the infectious and respiratory diseases therapy area, with skills across R&D, business development and commercial strategy. They join ENA Respiratory as it prepares to move its lead candidate, INNA-051, into a Phase II trial in the US 2025/2026 fall/winter season.

Based in the Ireland, Dr Humbles has over 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry supporting projects from early target identification and validation to drug candidates within the clinic. These projects have been across multiple therapeutic areas, including respiratory, autoimmunity, inflammatory and infectious disease, and included many drug modalities. Currently an independent Research & Development consultant, she was previously Disease Area Lead for Respiratory at Roche where she led a respiratory research group. Prior to this, Dr Humbles held senior scientific roles at MedImmune LLC, (now part of Astra Zeneca) after spending significant time in academic research at the Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Her work to date has led to over 70 authored/co-authored peer-reviewed publications in respiratory, inflammatory and immunology research. She gained her PhD in Pharmacology from the University of London.

Based in the UK, Dr Simmen has 30 years of global pharmaceuticals experience across drug discovery and early clinical development, and innovation collaboration and dealmaking. He currently serves as an independent advisor and Board member for several biotech companies worldwide. This follows a distinguished career at Johnson & Johnson, where he led global external innovation efforts and collaborations in therapeutics and vaccine development for infectious diseases through J&J Innovation. He previously led global early-stage R&D strategy against many pathogens in a team that progressed multiple candidates into clinical development, including the approved HCV antiviral (Simeprevir), co-developed with Medivir AB. In his external innovation role, he led the establishment of collaborations and license agreements with companies and academics worldwide and worked closely with the BLUE KNIGHT™ joint initiative between J&J Innovation and US BARDA. He began his career in pharma at Roche having completed postdoctoral work at the Netherlands Cancer Institute. He obtained his PhD in molecular biology and gene transcriptional regulation from the EMBL in Heidelberg.

Christophe Demaison, PhD CEO of ENA Respiratory, said, “Kenny and Alison have exceptional track records in R&D within big pharma and specifically in the infectious and respiratory diseases field. Their knowledge and experience will benefit ENA Respiratory as we continue to drive the clinical development of INNA-051 which we believe could offer a highly significant new approach to reducing the enormous burden of respiratory viral diseases.”

Other International advisors to ENA Respiratory include Arnold S. Monto MD, Bruce Miller PhD, Jacob Harker and Tim Hammond PhD. See https://enarespiratory.com/about/advisors/

About ENA Respiratory
ENA Respiratory is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company tackling respiratory viral infections through the development of host defence enhancers which locally prime and boost the body’s natural first line of defence against invading pathogens. Being virus-agnostic, ENA’s approach offers a solution to protect against common and emerging respiratory viruses for which vaccines or direct-acting antivirals have limitations or do not exist.

The company’s lead product, INNA-051, is being developed as a convenient, once-a-week nasal dry powder product to reduce the impact of viral respiratory infections and prevent severe complications in at-risk populations, including the elderly, those with an underlying medical condition (including chronic lung conditions, diabetes, kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease) and individuals with occupational risk (e.g. first responders, military or essential services personnel).

INNA-051 is a potent agonist of toll-like receptor 2/6 (TLR2/6) which plays a key role in recognising pathogens and potentiating innate immune responses. With a safety profile supporting seasonal prophylaxis use, it has demonstrated accelerated virus clearance and stimulation of antiviral host defences, including IFN Type I & III responses, in a Phase IIa proof-of-principle study using a human influenza-challenge model.

Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, the company has raised US$33 million (AU$46 million) in financing from Brandon Capital, The Minderoo Foundation, Flu Lab and Uniseed. It is partnered with the US COPD Foundation to support patient-centered clinical development of INNA-051 in COPD and has been awarded a US$13.1 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense. It is an alumni member of BLUE KNIGHT™, a joint initiative between Johnson & Johnson Innovation and BARDA designed to accelerate novel potential solutions for future pandemics.

For more information, please visit https://enarespiratory.com

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