US research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases, City of Hope, will use ProBioGen’s cell-based and scalable viral manufacturing platform, AGE1.CR.pIX, for the production of its Cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine.
The two organizations teamed up previously on City of Hope’s modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) based-COVD-19 vaccine development work.
Financial terms of the commercial license to use the AGE1.CR.pIX, including potential clinical milestones and future tiered royalties were not disclosed.
Human cytomegalovirus
Human cytomegalovirus (hCMV), which is one of the eight herpesviruses known to infect humans, is widespread all around the world and is mostly asymptomatic in immunocompetent people. However, hCMV may lead to severe and life-threatening disease in congenitally infected children and immunosuppressed individuals, such as transplant patients and those affected by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
Major difficulties in the development of a satisfactory vaccine include hCMV’s capacity to evade the immune response, unclear immune correlates for protection, low number of available animal models, and insufficient general awareness.
Plug and play technology
Don J Diamond, the principal investigator and co-inventor of the patents covering City of Hope’s synthetic MVA vaccine platform, said the center now wants to accelerate its CMV vaccine program. He outlined how AGE1.CR.pIX is a versatile and robust manufacturing platform and one that will support a productive and flexible process. “Our vaccine is truly unique as it is the only one in development that has been purposefully designed to be used to prevent congenital infections or control transplant-related infections.”