BioVaxys, a biotechnology company and world leader in the development of haptenized protein vaccines, has developed a technology platform implementable against both viruses and cancer cells. With vaccines in development including ones for late-stage ovarian cancer and SARS-CoV-2, their immunotherapeutic approach stimulates a robust response in the production of T-cells, which is a critical breakthrough for fighting viruses and cancer cells, as T-cells directly battle pathogens and tumours by targeting and destroying infected or cancerous cells, and can provide a longer-lasting immune response than by antibodies alone.
Now, what is this technology? And how can it be used to target viruses and cancer cells? The process of haptenization encourages a patient's immune system to recognize and make target proteins more 'visible' as foreign, thereby stimulating an immune response. This is paramount in the fight against viruses and cancer cells. Furthermore, there has been no observed toxicity in clinical trials of cancer vaccines. What increases the haptenized technology's efficacy is the flexibility that comes with it. The haptenization of viral proteins allows BioVaxys to "drop-in" or "swap" the needed viral antigens for haptenization, creating new vaccines, demonstrating its potential for faster development timelines when compared to traditional vaccine approaches.
BioVaxys' first product to emerge using this technology is BVX-0320, a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. Preclinical studies, which began in September 2020, observed 100% efficacy across higher dose levels in animal studies, with it's emerging safety profile, a dose-response relationship, and storage-friendly formulation demonstrating its promise as a vaccine. The profile of BVX-0320 further shows its promise against SARS-CoV-2, with the following observations: antibody titer analysis confirmed that 96.4% of vaccinated mice in a preclinical study had a positive immune response against the virus, inducing high levels of antibodies against the S1 fragment of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, and no toxicity noted at any dose level. BVX-0320 was also shown to activate immune system memory 'helper ' CD4+ and killer CD8+ T-cells against SARS-CoV-2, conferring longer-term viral protection. Generated following an immune response, memory 'helper' CD4+ T-cells retain information about the virus, which enables them to respond rapidly after viral exposure. CD8+ T cells have the capacity to kill cells infected by the virus, thereby stopping viral replication in those cells. Collectively, BioVaxys believes that this approach to vaccination could have a large advantage over other developing SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
So, what next? BioVaxys plans to submit an IND for BVX-0320, and is in preliminary discussions with third parties on potential collaborations under which BioVaxys would create new vaccines for a range of viral diseases based on haptenizing different viral proteins.
