Recombinant Alphavirus for DNA Vaccination - Isis Project No 1049

Research by Professor Vincenzo Cerundolo at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford has identified a method using replication-incompetent alphavirus, and derived constructs, as boosting agents in vaccination regimen.

Therapeutic Areas/Application

Induction of host immune responses, in particular to viruses and tumours

Background

Heterologous prime-boost vaccine regimens (using different priming and boosting agents) are well known to generate greater protective immunity to pathogens than the traditional method of repeated vaccination with identical (homologous) agents. For DNA vaccines, in which the immunising antigen is delivered in the form of DNA, much research has been undertaken to determine appropriate viral vector delivery systems able to ensure expression of the antigen in target immune cells. When choosing an appropriate boosting agent, it is important to ensure that the viral vector is not likely to have been encountered by the patient’s immune system previously. Prior exposure to the vector may cause the immune response to react to the vector rather than the antigen, therefore negating the protective effects of exposure to the antigen.

The Oxford Invention

The Oxford inventors have used a replication-incompetent alphavirus – Semliki Forest Virus (SFV) – encoding a specific antigen or antigens as a boosting agent to demonstrate protective immunity in prime-boost models. SFV has previously been shown to exhibit excellent efficacy and biosafety and represents an ideal tool for developing effective DNA vaccines for infectious disease and cancer applications.

The invention also includes a method of boosting an immune response to one or more epitopes via administration of a composition of one or more alphavirus constructs, each comprising one epitope. This has been shown to overcome immunodominance problems in boosting protocols.

Commercialisation Opportunity

This excitingOxford technology is the subject of a patent application covering alphaviruses in general. Companies interested in product developments arising from this work are invited to contact Isis Innovation to discuss how they could utilise this technology .

Request Further Information: Project Number 1049 - Recombinant Alphavirus for DNA Vaccination