Intravacc and Versatope have signed a research service agreement to further develop a universal vaccine against influenza based on Intravacc’s Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMV) technology. Both parties will collaborate to further advance the candidate vaccine through clinical development.
Intravacc’s unique expertise in OMV vaccine technology, which is proven to be safe in humans, will push the project forward to achieve this goal of finding the world’s first universal flu vaccine.
“We are very happy to partner with Versatope and to be able to further expand the global reach of our OMV technology. This partnership is dedicated to finding in a much needed universal flu vaccine,” Dr. Jan Groen, CEO of Intravacc, said.
Under the agreement, Intravacc will provide its services to Versatope in bringing their universal influenza vaccine candidate, VT-105, towards their first clinical trials. Versatope’s approach combines diverse genetic variants of influenza strains on a single nano-sized OMV that may provide better cross-strain protection than influenza vaccines comprised of individual strains.
“The alliance between Versatope and Intravacc will advance the VT-105 universal influenza vaccine candidate to the clinic in a rigorous and regulatory-compliant manner and help mitigate the risks associated with the chemistry, manufacturing and control process,” Dr. Christopher Locher, CEO of Versatope, said.
For vaccine development, Intravacc has designed a vaccine delivery platform based on outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) - spherical vesicles with strong immunogenic properties. These vesicles are naturally secreted by so-called gram-negative bacteria and contain proteins that play a role in the survival of bacteria in the body. Due to their immunogenic properties, they are also very suitable for use as a vaccine.
OMVs can be rigged with immunogenic proteins and peptides from other pathogens. This can be done by allowing the OMV-producing bacteria to produce these proteins or by chemically linking them to OMVs.
Heterologous OMV vaccines make manipulation with the pathogen from which the vaccine is produced unnecessary. This is a great advantage if there are strict isolation measures or if the pathogen is difficult to cultivate.