Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX), a vaccine-focused biopharma will be collaborating with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Their collaboration will lead to the development of universal influenza (flu) vaccine, a project under the funding of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The institute is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Through a program by the Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers (CIVICs), there will be an assessment of a novel approach developed by the CIVICs team from Mount Sinai called chimeric hemagglutinin (cHA). Its design and, in combination with Dynavax’s CpG 1018TM adjuvant, enhance the protection of Dynavax’s CpG 1018TM adjuvant against all influenza strains.
The Emphasis Is To Bring Together Cross-Protective Vaccine Strategies
Every year, more than three million severe cases caused by influenza A and B viruses are reported across the globe. A majority of seasonal influenza vaccines have up to 60% effectiveness, which explains the need for an enhanced and universal vaccine. Additionally, it explains the need for an annual updating of the current seasonal flu vaccine.
However, all these can only be accomplished by bringing together cross-protective strategies for developing the vaccines. This is the strategy the two collaborators have embarked on, according to Chair of the Department of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Peter Palese. What they will accomplish will benefit healthy adults and populations faced by a higher risk of influenza.
The Success of Dynavax’s Cpg 1018 Demonstrates the Enhancement of the Immune Response
Dynavax has taken control of its CpG 1018 by establishing multiple research collaborations to empower it. It has been a successful vaccine with the potential of improving the immune response, especially in the elderly population. The unique mechanism of action in it has proven that it has an enlarged enhancement.
The company says that it has had the first participants dosed in the Phase 1 clinical trial, which will evaluate Medicago’s plant-derived vaccine candidate. This has been adjuvanted with CpG 1018.
Phase 1 randomized and staggered dose-escalation study will be evaluating the vaccine’s safety and tolerability. There is a likelihood of having companies deliver up to 100 million doses of CpG 1018 by end of 2021.
