First off, on behalf of the entire Eyam Team (and Family), I’d like to wish you and your family a happy and healthy New Year!

There are several disruptive outcomes from these studies that I could expand upon, but I’ll just highlight two this month:

First, the Gemini Platform is just as effective without the use of Lipid Nanoparticles (LNP). LNPs have been considered a required component of mRNA vaccine platforms because they solved some of the weaknesses of using RNA, mainly creating greater stability at higher temperatures and better immunogenicity. The drawbacks of LNPs are that they cause inflammation (safety issues), are expensive, time consuming to make, and must be manufactured at specialized facilities. An effective mRNA vaccine platform that avoids the need of LNPs would be a major breakthrough.

Second, the Gemini Platform’s protein expression is up to 10x longer than first generation mRNA platforms. A vaccine’s ability to express an antigen is what drives the immune response. First generation mRNA platforms only produce 3-4 days of expression, which could explain why their protection against infection is so short term.

While we await the peer review of the research paper, we have already begun to receive solicitations from scientists and other biotechs wanting to discuss Gemini and our other technologies.

In two weeks, I will be at the JP Morgan Biotech Showcase Conference in San Francisco. There, I have already scheduled more than a dozen meetings with VCs and potential biotech partners to discuss investment and partnership opportunities – it is shaping up to be a great start to the New Year.

Top Milestones of 2022

This past year saw many important results and milestones for Eyam. Here are a few highlights from the last 12 months:

• Gemini platform breakthroughs. The Eyam Research Team conducted more than 15 trials that optimized and validated the Gemini Platform. Gemini promises to provide a disruptive new platform for the development and deployment of more effective vaccines and therapeutics.
• More than 15 vaccines tested in preclinical trials. Eyam’s vaccines produced strong results against multiple COVID-19 variants and are being prepared to enter clinical trials.
• Eyam’s Founder and CSO, Dr. Wilf Jefferies, was Inducted in the National Academy of Inventors.
• Eyam Announced a Partnership with Mitacs to Fund Next Generation Vaccine Technologies.
• Eyam Signed a New Licensing Agreement For Innovative Vaccine Technologies.
• Eyam moves into the therapeutic space by acquiring an option to license a novel antibody biologic for the treatment of Leukemia and Lymphoma.

Looking Ahead to 2023

In January 2022, we entered the third year of the COVID-19 Pandemic fighting off the Omicron Wave. Despite the Covid surge, there was quite a bit of optimism that the world would return back to normal in 2022. Two months into the New Year, that hope melted away with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the realization that inflation was not transitory, and the reality that COVID was not going away.

What awaits the world in 2023 is a a mystery, but we plan to keep an eye on the following issues:

• Protectionism and on-shoring: First it was vaccine nationalism, then it was supply chain protectionism, then punitive sanctions arose, and now culture wars are springing up. All of these forces have led to a strong movement of de-globalization and the fracturing of the post Cold-War World Order.
• The economy and inflation: As central banks continue to tighten monetary policy to attempt to control inflation, the questions are: how far will they go? Has inflation peaked? Will they tip the world into recession? How long and deep will a recession be?
• Bio-Consolidation: After years of easy money, fast expansion, and innovative growth, cash rich pharmaceuticals will look to go on a buying spree to strengthen their pipelines and R&D.
• Russian, China and India: With more than 3 billion people living within the borders of these countries, how they respond to the current challenges will determine the course of the world economy and the geopolitical direction of the world. After weeks of violent protest, China has relaxed their Zero-Tolerance Covid policy. Now Chinese citizens are suddenly allowed to travel and are exporting COVID again as 50% of Chinese travelers are traveling while infected. Will China plunge the world into deeper division by taking a more aggressive approach to Taiwan? Will Russia escalate its war with Ukraine? How will India take advantage of 2023’s uncertainty to assert itself as a rising world power?

These issues may present very interesting opportunities for Eyam in 2023.

For example, we can already see the positive effects of economic protectionism and on-shoring with increased government grant opportunities as well as manufacturing incentives. Also, after a quiet Q2, biotech deals picked up at an impressive rate in Q3 and Q4 of 2022. We expect to see that continue into 2023 and position ourselves for the right strategic partnership.

On the R&D front, we have several new projects in the pipeline. We’re already planning and coordinating our influenza/COVID-19 combinatorial vaccine project and with further funding, we hope to advance trials to prepare our cancer fighting antibody biologic for clinical trials in early 2024.