More Applications

Infectious Disease, Animal Health, Antibody Production

Infectious Disease

ITI’s lysosomal targeting method was originally developed as a way of improving the adaptive immune response upon vaccination to human papilloma virus and human immunodeficiency virus antigens. The original studies were conducted by Immunomic Therapeutics’ scientific co-founder Dr. Tom August and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University, including Dr. Drew Pardoll and Dr. T-C Wu, among others.  Although these potential therapies were never fully developed.

We collaborated with Dr. August’s labs and designed a prototype immunotherapeutic for HIV. The company held a pre-IND meeting with the FDA.

In addition to applications in HPV and HIV, lysosomal targeting formulations have been developed and tested by academic groups as preventative and therapeutic vaccines for rabies, yellow fever, dengue fever, SARS, and hepatitis C.  These potential therapies were never fully developed.

Animal Health

Four DNA vaccines have been approved by USDA for animal health applications:

  1. against West Nile virus in horses
  2. against infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus in schooled salmon
  3. for treatment of melanoma in dogs
  4. growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) product for in swine

These licensures are a validation for DNA vaccines and illustrate their commercial potential at successfully protecting or treating certain diseases. Further, they illustrate that DNA vaccines can be manufactured to scale and at low cost to meet the economics of the animal health vaccine business. These product successes bode well for the sustainability and growth of this class of therapeutic.

We are focusing on developing a short course vaccine for treating canine atopic dermatitis, an unmet need and large market opportunity. Approximately 3 million domesticated dogs in the US suffer from CAD, the second most common reason for vet visits by dog owners. Several therapies are available for symptom management. We believe that a short course allergy vaccine approach (such as ITI’s lysosomal targeting technology) could treat the underlying immunological cause. We are working with several thought leaders and collaborators on developing and testing this potential product.

Antibody Development

DNA vaccination may offer a unique alternative to develop antibodies against antigens which are poorly immunogenic or difficult to purify. By incorporating investigational ITI’s lysosomal targeting technology into the immunization vector specifically targets the antigen into the MHC-II compartment. MHC-II antigen presentation activates the immune system through helper T-cells, possibly resulting in a robust antibody response. ITI’s vaccines have been designed to elicit a wide variety of targets and have induced a strong immune response in animal systems, including infectious disease targets, cancer antigens, allergens and host proteins. These immunizations can be prepared in approximately 30 days and antisera recovered in approximately 75 days.

Read about our unique license agreement with the Trianni, Inc. for the discovery of therapeutic antibodies using our technology.

Applications

Allergy

Reversing the “net allergic charge” and changing an IgE / Th2 allergic response into an IgG / Th1 response

Oncology

Generating high affinity tumor antigen specific T cells supported by CD4 helper T-cells

More

Trafficking antigens into the MHC-II compartment for direct, antigen specific activation of CD4+ T cells