DNA vaccine development company Coridon Pty Ltd. today announced that it had successfully completed pre-clinical efficacy testing of its prototype Herpes Simplex Virus 2 (HSV-2) vaccine, with outstanding results. The company will now look to progress the program into clinical studies.
Collaborating with Professor David Koelle and his colleagues at the University of Washington in Seattle, Coridon tested a number of different formulations of Coridon’s prototype vaccine. These proved 100% effective at protecting animals against HSV-2 infection, confirming an earlier study with the University of Washington which also demonstrated 90-100% protection against infection. These results were presented at the 5th Vaccine and ISV Annual Global Congress in Seattle on 3rd October 2011.
Having achieved this milestone, Coridon has now secured additional funding from major investor Allied Healthcare Group and plans to commence manufacturing and undertake formal pre-clinical safety studies before testing the vaccine in a Phase I clinical study.
“The results of our herpes vaccine mark the beginning of an exciting period," stated Professor Ian Frazer, Chairman of Coridon. "Over the next 12 months, we expect pivotal data showing that our HSV vaccine, which incorporates Coridon optimisation technology, produces similar immune responses in the clinic to those seen in the animal trials.”
Coridon is developing DNA vaccines for the prevention and treatment for a range of infectious diseases and cancers in humans, utilising the company‚s patented technology. Coridon’s DNA vaccine technologies differ from conventional vaccines in that they offer both preventative and therapeutic value.
Coridon was founded by Professor Ian Frazer to commercialise his work in developing next generation DNA vaccines. Professor Frazer’s work at Coridon follows the success of his cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil. Major shareholder in Coridon, Allied Healthcare Group (ASX: AHZ) is working with Professor Frazer to assist in the commercialisation of his work.
Lee Rodne, MD of Allied Healthcare Group said: “These data provide fantastic validation to the Coridon platform which could be applied to a number of infectious diseases. We are excited about the path forward for the program as it moves toward clinical studies.”
Coridon has 6 granted US patents protecting its codon optimisation DNA technology, which enhances protein expression in the cell or tissue targeted and results in an improved humoral response. The second component of the technology, also patent protected, is to use a mixture of DNAs encoding ubiquitinated and non ubiquitinated proteins. This strategy enhances the degradation of the protein and optimises T cell responses, while preserving structural epitopes necessary for B cells responses, resulting in vaccines with prophylactic and therapeutic potential. The preclinical studies of the vaccine, using doses ranging from 0.3µg to 30µg showed that five out of ten vaccine formulations gave 100% protection in a HSV-2 infection challenge model at 50 times the lethal dose and two vaccine formulations gave 100% protection at 500 times the lethal dose.
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