Biopharmaceutical company Poolbeg Pharma plc (AIM: POLB) announced on Monday that it will participate as lead business partner in a new cancer immunotherapy-induced cytokine release syndrome research programme led by The University of Manchester and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

The initiative, known as RISE, is supported by a GBP3.4m Medical Research Council Prosperity Partnership grant and includes Johnson & Johnson among its partners.

Central to the RISE programme is Poolbeg's previously announced POLB 001 TOPICAL trial, for which Johnson & Johnson will supply its approved bispecific antibody teclistamab. The research will gather clinical data from patients treated with bispecific antibodies and CAR T-cell therapies and expand investigations into POLB 001's potential to prevent cytokine release syndrome, a serious adverse effect associated with immunotherapies that affects more than 70% of patients receiving certain treatments.

RISE will not affect timelines for the POLB 001 clinical trial, with data expected in summer 2026, nor will it impact Poolbeg's cash runway into 2027.

Poolbeg aims to enhance the safety profile of cancer immunotherapies, with POLB 001 positioned to support wider use of these treatments beyond specialist centres. The company is also progressing an oral encapsulated GLP-1 therapy for obesity.