Clinical-stage biotechnology company Vaxxas has announced the publication of data supporting the potential use of its high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) technology to deliver nucleic acid-based vaccines in collaboration with The University of Queensland and Technovalia.
Vaxxas' HD-MAP technology delivers a dry formulation of vaccines to the immune cells just below the skin surface. It has shown potential in early clinical studies to support dose sparing, thermostability, and self-administration of vaccines, making it less expensive and more efficient to distribute vaccines in the future.
Generated by researchers at The University of Queensland, led by Associate Professor David Muller, the newly published data is based on research assessing a Vaxxas HD-MAP delivered DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, encoded for the SARS-COV-2 antigen, to the skin of animals in a preclinical model. The COVID-19 vaccine candidate used in the research is by Australian-based vaccine developer Technovalia.
The research has been published as an article, 'Skin patch delivery of a SARS-CoV-2 spike DNA vaccine produces broad neutralising antibody responses' in the science journal, Heliyon.
Vaxxas said that while only one COVID-19 DNA-based vaccine has been approved in India to date, they have shown promise as the next generation of immunotherapeutic agents in cancer treatment, offering a valuable extension of the HD-MAP platform.
Vaxxas has worked on the development of another nucleic-based vaccine, where the company received approval to advance a CEPI-funded program following proof-of-concept results supporting thermostability and delivery of an mRNA vaccine construct using its HD-MAP technology.
Vaxxas CEO David Hoey said, "These newly published results build on our body of evidence supporting the potential benefits of HD-MAP vaccination across a wide range of vaccine types to protect against a wide range of infectious diseases.
"The research has supported the potential for HD-MAPs to induce a cellular and mucosal immune response, which is particularly important when building capability against respiratory-based infectious diseases, like COVID-19.
"Beyond that, DNA vaccines have shown great promise as cancer treatments, something Vaxxas and our collaborators are also evaluating in preclinical studies as a target for HD-MAP delivery. We expect to announce some early results from this work in the near future."
Technovalia CEO Laurent Dapremont added, "We are excited about the promise of HD-MAP technology in delivering DNA vaccines. This collaboration with other leading Australian organisations highlights our commitment to advancing next-generation vaccines that are safer, more effective, and more accessible."
