Date: 2017-07-06
Type of
information: Publication of results in a medical journal
phase: preclinical
Announcement: publication of results in Vaccines
Company: Inovio Pharmaceuticals (USA - PA)
Product: dMAb® product for flu
Action
mechanism: monoclonal antibody. Inovio’s dMAb products deliver DNA sequences that encode and directly result in the in vivo production of protective antibodies, unlike its DNA vaccines which attempt to incite the production of antibodies through the immune system. In the case of influenza and other infectious disease, a dMAb product may provide immediate and short term protection while a DNA vaccine may provide long term immune memory and protection. Both products can be encoded to provide cross-strain protection. Inovio’s influenza dMAb product was designed to provide cross-strain protection across two major sub-types of influenza, A and B. This approach would bypass the burdensome design and manufacturing approach for conventional monoclonal antibodies that make them less ideal for pandemic situations and would be desirable in their potential ability to offer prevention against unexpected changes of seasonal influenza strains.
Disease: flu
Therapeutic
area: Infectious diseases
Country:
Trial
details:
Latest
news:
- • On July 6, 2017, Inovio Pharmaceuticals announced its DNA-based monoclonal antibody product for flu produced broadly cross-reactive antibodies that provided complete protection from a lethal challenge with multiple viruses from both influenza A and B types in a preclinical study. Results of this study in mice were published in the journal npj Vaccines in an article entitled “DNA Inoculation of Synthetic Cross-Reactive Antibodies Protects Against Lethal Influenza A and B Infections,” authored by Inovio and its collaborators.
- Following on previously reported similar data from its dMAb® products for HIV, dengue, and Chikungunya, this study further validates the ability of Inovio’s dMAb technology platform to use encoded DNA plasmids to enable in vivo production of monoclonal antibodies and induce protective immune responses. The goal for this platform is to rapidly generate therapeutic monoclonal antibodies directly in the recipients. Such benefits are complementary to Inovio’s antigen-generating platform in terms of immune mechanism and short response times, and advantages that overcome conventional monoclonal antibodies’ long development lead times and complex manufacturing processes and costs.
- Inovio looks forward to advancing the first dMAb product – our therapeutic Ebola product funded by DARPA – into human testing in 2018.
- This published study was supported by grants from DARPA and the National Institutes of Health for a collaborative study that, in addition to Inovio, includes scientists from The Wistar Institute and MedImmune, AstraZeneca’s global biologics research and development arm.
Is
general: Yes
