Date: 2015-07-29
Type of information: Publication of results in a medical journal
phase: preclinical
Announcement: publication of results in Scientific Reports
Company: Inovio Pharmaceuticals (USA - PA)
Product: DNA-based monoclonal antibody (dMAb) targeting dengue virus
Action
mechanism: monoclonal antibody. Unlike conventional monoclonal technology, which involves constructing protein-based antibodies and manufacturing them in cell culture in a complex and costly process, Inovio\'s patent-protected dMAb technology encodes the DNA sequence for a specific monoclonal antibody in a highly optimized plasmid, which would be delivered directly into a subject’s arm using electroporation. Cells in the body would then produce the encoded monoclonal antibody molecules, with intended functional activity including high antigen-binding and neutralization capabilities against the targeted disease.
Disease: dengue fever
Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases
Country:
Trial
details:
Latest
news: * On July 29, 2015, Inovio Pharmaceuticals announced that its DNA-based monoclonal antibody (dMAb) targeting dengue virus provided protection against a lethal dengue virus challenge in mice. A paper, \"Protection against dengue disease by synthetic nucleic acid antibody prophylaxis/immunotherapy,\" was published in Scientific Reports, a Nature Publishing Group journal. While conventional vaccine and monoclonal antibody technologies have shown limited ability to provide an effective solution to dengue to date, the unique attributes and data generated by dMAbs show their potential to provide a needed solution. In this study, a single intramuscular injection of a DNA plasmid encoding a monoclonal antibody targeting dengue protected mice subsequently exposed to the dengue virus. The protection conferred by the monoclonal antibodies expressed by these dMAbs was very rapid, with 100% survival in mice challenged with lethal enhanced dengue disease less than a week after dMAb administration – this short time frame to achieve full protection is significantly more rapid than vaccine-driven protection, which can take weeks to months to reach peak efficacy levels.
