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Clinical Trials

Date: 2015-11-09

Type of information: Presentation of results at a congress

phase:

Announcement: presentation of results at the World Vaccine Congress being held in Madrid

Company: Sanofi (France)

Product: cross-reactive antigens against seasonal and pandemic influenza

Action mechanism:

vaccine

Disease: seasonal and pandemic influenza

Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases

Country:

Trial details:

Latest news:

 On November 9, 2015, Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, presented at the World Vaccine Congress being held in Madrid, Spain, on developing broadly cross-reactive antigens against seasonal and pandemic influenza. At the World Vaccine Congress, Harry Kleanthous, PhD, Associate VP for Research discussed the paradigm shifting potential of broader-spectrum influenza vaccine approaches that stimulate protection against many influenza strains, unlike the current licensed vaccines that are designed to protect against 3-to-4 strains that are determined before the influenza vaccine production process begins each year. “We are actively exploring the development of a more-broadly protective influenza vaccine that will be designed to prevent the seasonal mismatches that can occur and that are not addressed using the current technology,” explained Dr. Kleanthous. “They are complementary but can be considered ‘tailored’ antigens in that they are designed to re-focus the immune response to key protective epitopes on the hemagglutinin, which is the active component of our currently licensed influenza vaccines,” he continued. “These antigens are still a key player in any flu vaccine, since antibodies directed against them are responsible for preventing the Flu virus from binding to and infecting the cell. Creating new antigens is a central theme in our strategy.”
Sanofi Pasteur has an existing R&D collaboration agreement with the University of Georgia on a method that -according to Dr. Kleanthous-, could yield a novel, synthetic vaccine based on the hemagglutinin protein, designed to protect against seasonal influenza strains spanning several years, including drifted strains not yet in existence. 
Sanofi Pasteur’s experimental vaccine is a novel synthetic vaccine generated from key genetic sequences of many flu viruses, and is termed “computationally optimized broadly reactive antigen” or COBRA, and is designed to protect against many strains over several years, due to the common sequences many flu viruses share. The key advantage is broader coverage against several seasonal flu strains, which is important when there is a mismatch to the vaccine strain. An additional advantage of this approach is not relying upon annual strain selection, allowing year-round manufacturing.

Is general: Yes