Enesi Pharma, a pharmaceutical company developing solid dose vaccine products, has entered a research and development collaboration with Public Health England (PHE), an executive agency of the UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care.
The collaboration is focused on the development and evaluation of a novel solid-dose formulation of a number of PHE’s proprietary vaccine candidates including Anthrax recombinant Protective Antigen (rPA) and Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) for delivery via Enesi Pharma’s ImplaVax needle-free technology.
David Hipkiss, CEO of Enesi Pharma, commented: “We are extremely encouraged by the positive responses we are seeing from institutions and companies to the potential advantages of our ImplaVax solid-dose vaccine platform across the spectrum of infectious diseases and allergies."
"In entering this new collaboration with Public Health England, we have an opportunity to apply our technology to address serious biological threats that represents a high priority for at-risk personnel and for the wider population.”
Pre-clinical testing of a range of ImplaVax enabled vaccines in animal models has evidenced regimen sparing and a reduced time to achieve threshold immunity against comparative conventional liquid vaccines administered using a needle and syringe.
Such regimen sparing saves time and money, allowing more patients to be vaccinated more quickly from a fixed available production volume, potentially expanding coverage, preparedness and emergency response.
The current vaccination schedules of many vaccines require multiple doses. An ImplaVax-enabled vaccine therefore has the potential to dramatically enhance vaccination programmes for military and other at-risk personnel as well as providing a rapidly deployable therapeutic option for individuals who have been exposed to the target infectious disease.
ImplaVax enabled vaccines also benefit from extended thermal stability making a significant contribution to reducing the end to end cold chain logistical challenges, cost and will greatly assist in optimising the cost effectiveness of the national strategic stockpile.
Professor Miles Carroll, Head of Research and Deputy Director at Public Health England, added: “The threat of emerging infections is an important public health consideration and we are intrigued by the potential for improvements that Enesi’s ImplaVax technology could bring to the vaccination process."
"These improvements could simplify and accelerate the process, while also providing a rapid means of treating exposed individuals. We are very much looking forward to working with Enesi to develop and evaluate a range of solid-dose vaccines.”