Defence Therapeutics Inc. says it has successfully established a strategy conjugating mRNA molecules to Accum, the company’s core technology that enables precision delivery of vaccine antigens or antibody-drug conjugates in their intact form to target cells.
In a striking demonstration of how the success of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 has opened up the potential of the technology in cancer, mice that cleared a tumor after a single administration of an mRNA vaccine, also cleared a second tumor without receiving further immunization. This display of potent immunogenicity formed part of a head-to-head study of three different mRNA technology platforms in human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 associated tumors.
In the larger picture, the fight against HIV has been a triumph of modern medicine. A patient diagnosed with HIV in the 1980s had a remaining life expectancy of 1 to 2 years. In 2023, they can expect to live another half century. But so far, an HIV vaccine has remained elusive. In the newest phase III failure, Janssen Pharmaceutical Cos. of Johnson and Johnson closed down its Mosaico trial more than a year ahead of schedule, following a data and safety monitoring board’s (DSMB) report saying the study was not expected to hit its primary endpoint.
Jiangsu Recbio Technology Co. Ltd. has received clinical trial approval for its novel adjuvanted recombinant shingles vaccine, REC-610, from the Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines. A phase I trial will be conducted in healthy volunteers.
Both neutralizing antibodies and antibody effector functions are needed for protection against re-infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which may explain why it has been challenging to design an effective vaccine against the virus. As reported in the Dec. 12, 2022, issue of Cell, researchers carried out a human challenge study where volunteers were given a candidate vaccine for RSV, Ad26, or placebo.
Emergex Vaccines Holding Ltd. has generated a chikungunya virus (CHIKV) ligandome, the first major milestone in the development of the company's CD8+ T-cell CHIKV adaptive vaccine candidate. Using an immunoproteomics approach, naturally presented MHC Class I-restricted peptides on the surface of a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-typed cell line infected with CHIKV virus were extracted and identified.
Pfizer Inc. and Biontech SE have initiated a phase I study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of BNT-162b4, a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate that aims to enhance SARS-CoV-2 T-cell responses and potentially broaden protection against COVID-19.
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