Vaccitech Renames as Barinthus Biotherapeutics to Highlight Strategic Evolution into a T Cell Immunotherapy Company Targeting Chronic Infectious Diseases, Autoimmunity, and Cancer

• New Corporate Brand to be Unveiled at AASLD Liver Meeting 2023 with Interim Data
  

OXFORD, United Kingdom, Nov. 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barinthus Biotherapeutics plc (NASDAQ: BRNS), formerly Vaccitech plc (NASDAQ: VACC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel T cell immunotherapeutic candidates designed to guide the immune system to overcome chronic infectious diseases, autoimmunity and cancer will present data from its Phase 2 Hepatitis B trials of VTP-300 at The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) – The Liver Meeting 2023, November 10-14 in Boston, MA.

The company also announced today that it has changed its name to Barinthus Biotherapeutics plc to represent the evolution and expansion of its focus beyond vaccines. The company expects to begin trading under its new name and ticker (Nasdaq: BRNS) effective as of November 7, 2023. As part of the rebranding, the company has also updated its website -- learn more at www.barinthusbio.com.

“The company has evolved and expanded since being spun out of the University of Oxford. Whereas we began as a vaccine company having been involved in flu vaccines and then the co-invention and early development of Vaxzevria, the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine and the development of other prophylactic vaccines,” said Bill Enright, Chief Executive Officer of Barinthus Biotherapeutics. “Today the company is focused on the development of novel T cell immunotherapeutic candidates, which evolved out of that initial vaccine research. We believe that guiding the capabilities of T cells using our proprietary platform technologies provides broader developmental opportunities with a huge potential to eventually impact patients’ lives. We are excited to continue into the next chapter of the company’s story – as Barinthus Biotherapeutics.”

The company’s new name takes inspiration from “Barinthus,” the mythological navigator who guided King Arthur of Britain by ship to the island of Avalon to be healed when he was wounded. The story of the legendary king being wounded and being guided to a place of healing where he continues to live is mirrored in our proprietary platforms and technology that are designed to guide the immune system to treat infectious diseases, autoimmunity, and cancer.