Thursday, January 18, 2018 1:51:13 PM
PHILADELPHIA—(Jan. 18, 2018)—The Wistar Institute is pleased to announce it has been awarded a $1,494,972 grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance a DNA-based vaccine candidate for protection against malarial infection utilizing a synthetic DNA platform created in the lab of David B. Weiner, Ph.D., executive vice president, director of the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center at The Wistar Institute and the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust Professor in Cancer Research.
Wistar will collaborate with Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: INO) and Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on this research effort.
Currently, RTS,S (Mosquirix™) is the only malaria vaccine that has moved through phase III trials, delivering modest protection for the populations most at risk. The vaccine also requires four doses and decreases in effectiveness over time providing partial protection. This issue of durability of protection as well as limited group protection supports the need to develop second generation vaccine candidates.
Incorporating Weiner’s and collaborators’ more than 25 years of research in design and delivery of synthetic DNA vaccines, the team’s goal is to generate a new vaccine that drives robust antigen-specific antibody and T cell immune responses. The Weiner Lab helped to found the field of nucleic acid vaccines and was the first to move DNA vaccines to clinical studies, establishing their safety and immunogenicity and opening up the field of DNA vaccines for clinical development.
“DNA vaccines have a significant public health potential to rapidly impact emerging pandemics, as this technology has conceptual safety, development, speed of production, field stability, and deliverability advantages for vaccine and immunotherapy development,” said Weiner. “These synthetic DNA approaches can be developed for important infectious diseases, and with our collaborators, we have shown this consistently by rapidly engineering multiple synthetic DNA vaccines and advancing them to clinical study with positive outcomes of safety and immune potency.”
Funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will enable this team to adapt the technology to produce a synthetic DNA vaccine encoding antigens of Plasmodium (P.) faliciparum, the micro-organism that causes malaria. This strategy instructs the vaccine recipient to produce the antigen in his/her own body so that the immune system can be activated and mount a rapid and potent response against malaria. Fidel Zavala, M.D., professor in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology and senior member of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, will be responsible for testing the vaccine in animal models. Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will bring improved vaccine delivery and production know-how with their advanced CELLECTRA® electroporation delivery device that generates small, directional electric currents into the skin to facilitate optimal vaccine uptake, production of the antigen, and generation of relevant immune responses.
“We are excited to participate in this novel collaboration with the Wistar team, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focusing on synthetic DNA and Cellectra EP,” said Laurent Humeau, Ph.D., Senior VP of Research & Development, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “The continued advancement of Cellectra Technology for synthetic DNA delivery, in this case against the malaria parasite, builds on our platform’s versatility, flexibility of design, ease of manufacturing, stability, reproducible clinical immune potency, and safety advantages compared to more traditional development platforms for vaccines.”
Malaria is a leading cause of death in infants and children in sub-Saharan Africa, including Malawi, Ghana and Kenya, as well as other developing areas of the world. A complex disease caused by a mosquito bite, the malaria parasite is able to evade the immune system and enter the bloodstream and eventually migrate to the liver where it establishes infection. There are four common strains of malaria, though P. falciparum is the most severe strain and is prevalent in Africa. A global disease burden, malaria accounted for 216 million cases worldwide and 445,000 deaths in 2016.
# # #
The Wistar Institute is an international leader in biomedical research with special expertise in cancer, immunology, infectious diseases and vaccine development. Founded in 1892 as the first independent nonprofit biomedical research institute in the United States, Wistar has held the prestigious Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute since 1972. The Institute works actively to ensure that research advances move from the laboratory to the clinic as quickly as possible. wistar.org.
________________________________________
wistar.org/news/press-releases/wistar-institute-awarded-more-14-million-create-malaria-vaccine-through
INO
Recent INO News
- INOVIO to Present at Upcoming Scientific Conference • PR Newswire (US) • 09/17/2024 08:30:00 PM
- Form 424B5 - Prospectus [Rule 424(b)(5)] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 08/13/2024 10:22:02 AM
- Form 8-K - Current report • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 08/13/2024 10:06:54 AM
- INOVIO Reports Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results and Recent Business Highlights • PR Newswire (US) • 08/08/2024 08:05:00 PM
- INOVIO Reports Inducement Grant Under Inducement Plan • PR Newswire (US) • 08/01/2024 08:05:00 PM
- Inovio Receives Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product Certificate from European Medicines Agency for Quality and Non-Clinical Data for Lead Candidate INO-3107 • PR Newswire (US) • 07/25/2024 08:05:00 PM
- INOVIO to Report Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results on August 8, 2024 • PR Newswire (US) • 07/25/2024 12:00:00 PM
- INO-3107 Awarded the Innovation Passport Designation Under U.K. Government's Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway • PR Newswire (US) • 07/11/2024 12:00:00 PM
- INOVIO Announces Appointment of Steven Egge as Chief Commercial Officer • PR Newswire (US) • 07/02/2024 08:05:00 PM
- INOVIO Reports Inducement Grant Under Inducement Plan • PR Newswire (US) • 07/01/2024 08:00:00 PM
- INOVIO Added to Russell 2000® Index Effective July 1, 2024 • PR Newswire (US) • 07/01/2024 12:00:00 PM
- INOVIO to Participate in Virtual Fireside Chat Hosted by Stephens Inc. • PR Newswire (US) • 06/04/2024 12:00:00 PM
- INOVIO Reports Inducement Grants Under Inducement Plan • PR Newswire (US) • 05/31/2024 08:48:00 PM
- Form 8-K - Current report • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/28/2024 08:01:02 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/22/2024 08:51:58 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/22/2024 08:51:38 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/22/2024 08:51:16 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/22/2024 08:51:00 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/22/2024 08:50:34 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/22/2024 08:50:11 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/22/2024 08:49:53 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/16/2024 09:13:02 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/16/2024 09:12:10 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/16/2024 09:11:09 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/16/2024 09:10:00 PM
FEATURED Cannabix Technologies and Omega Laboratories Inc. Advance Marijuana Breathalyzer Technology - Dr. Bruce Goldberger to Present at Society of Forensic Toxicologists Conference • Sep 24, 2024 8:50 AM
FEATURED Integrated Ventures, Inc Announces Strategic Partnership For GLP-1 (Semaglutide) Procurement Through MedWell USA, LLC. • Sep 24, 2024 8:45 AM
Avant Technologies Accelerates Creation of AI-Powered Platform to Revolutionize Patient Care • AVAI • Sep 24, 2024 8:00 AM
VHAI - Vocodia Partners with Leading Political Super PACs to Revolutionize Fundraising Efforts • VHAI • Sep 19, 2024 11:48 AM
Dear Cashmere Group Holding Co. AKA Swifty Global Signs Binding Letter of Intent to be Acquired by Signing Day Sports • DRCR • Sep 19, 2024 10:26 AM
HealthLynked Launches Virtual Urgent Care Through Partnership with Lyric Health. • HLYK • Sep 19, 2024 8:00 AM