Immunovaccine Inc. has entered into a collaborative research program with
the National Research Council Canada (NRC) to evaluate the efficacy of a
carbohydrate-based vaccine formulated in DepoVax, the company’s proprietary
vaccine delivery and enhancement platform. The antigen selected for this novel
vaccine formulation is a modified carbohydrate with the potential to be developed
into a meningococcal vaccine, as well as a therapeutic cancer vaccine.
The collaboration’s objective is to design a
carbohydrate-based vaccine, using the DepoVax formulation, that can produce
significant antibody levels specific to the carbohydrate target and capable of
neutralizing meningococci. The research will also evaluate the ability of the
carbohydrate-based vaccine candidate to kill cancer cells.
“This modified carbohydrate is unique because of its
potential utility as an antigen for both a bacterial vaccine and a therapeutic
cancer vaccine,” commented Marc Mansour, Ph.D., Immunovaccine’s Vice
President of R&D. “This is the first time we are incorporating a
carbohydrate antigen into our DepoVax platform to further demonstrate its
flexibility and versatility.”
Carbohydrate antigens are generally poorly immunogenic when
used in vaccines. In this study, the NRC and Immunovaccine will collaboratively
address this challenge. The NRC has developed a conjugation technology that
makes the carbohydrate more immunogenic for the immune system to generate an
antibody response. The immunogenicity of the modified carbohydrate is expected
to be enhanced by the DepoVax technology.
Immunovaccine’s DepoVax vaccine delivery and enhancement
technology will formulate the carbohydrate antigen into liposomes and then in
oil. This DepoVax delivery technology is a breakthrough in vaccine development
because it raises unusually strong and long-lasting humoral or cellular immune
responses. The ability for DepoVax to potentiate vaccines and deliver strong
results has been demonstrated in several animal models for infectious disease
and cancer.
