Enesi Pharma, a biotechnology company and developer of the ImplaVax platform, has entered into an agreement with the US National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to test a novel pandemic flu vaccine.
ImplaVax-enabled vaccination products leverage the company’s unit solid-dose, thermally stable formulation and needle-free delivery technologies, and are applicable across all vaccine formats.
The study will build on the company’s biomedical advanced research and development authority (BARDA) Drive Beyond the Needle collaboration earlier this year, under which the company developed solid-dose formulations of a recombinant H7N9 pandemic influenza vaccine.
Under NIAID’s suite of preclinical services, NIAID-funded contractors will test the ImplaVax formulation in animal model challenge studies against flu viruses. This study will generate additional efficacy data to complement the thermal stability, efficacy and needle-free delivery data already shown in support of future clinical development, the company says.
The study is scheduled to begin in Q4 2021.
David Hipkiss, Enesi Pharma CEO, commented: “ImplaVax can reduce wastage, eliminate the need for cold-chain logistics, and allow for easier administration of vaccines – representing a potential paradigm shift in the deployment and reach of mass-immunisation programmes like those regularly undertaken for influenza. We are excited to expand upon our successful work with BARDA and with the assistance of NIAID advance our understanding and future use of ImplaVax in this critical area of international importance.”
NIAID is continually preparing for pandemic influenza, including the potential for a wider spread of emerging strains of avian influenza, such as the H7N9 virus. NIAID and its funded researchers are conducting preclinical and clinical studies on various investigational pandemic flu vaccines.