THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING
Pharma Tech Outlook | Friday, November 11, 2022
Global leader in non-viral delivery of genomic medicines, Precision NanoSystems (PNI), entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with Aurora Vaccines to accelerate the development and manufacture of its Hepatitis C vaccine candidate. PNI will share its expertise in the development of the RNA payload platform and its proprietary lipid nanoparticle (LNP) platforms to help bring Aurora’s RNA-LNP vaccine candidate for the prevention of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection to a Phase I clinical trial.
PNI’s technology includes an effective and safe (pre-clinical testing) self-amplifying mRNA (saRNA) payload platform, delivered using proprietary lipid nanoparticle compositions, and supported by a scalable microfluidic manufacturing platform. The company has extensive expertise in developing RNA-LNPs to bring this vaccine all the way from early-stage development to scale-up manufacturing for clinical trials.
“PNI has the right combination of expertise and technology to help us advance our research and to potentially bring a safe and effective HCV vaccine to the world.” says Sir Michael Houghton, founder of Aurora Vaccines. “The emergence of RNA vaccine technology provides an accelerated development timeline which could deliver a vaccine as 2025.”
Hepatitis C is an inflammation of the liver caused by the Hepatitis C virus.1 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 58 million people have chronic hepatitis C virus infection, and there are about 1.5 million new infections globally each year.2 While antivirals are successful at treating HCV, there is no effective vaccine available for patients.3
“Accelerating the development of an HCV vaccine requires bringing together expertise from technology, disease, and vaccine development. Our collaboration is a primary example of what can be done when the leading minds come together to try and solve an unmet medical need,” said Dr. James Taylor, co-founder and general manager of PNI.
Nobel Laureate Sir Michael Houghton founded Aurora Vaccines with Professor Lorne Tyrrell in 2017 to develop the HCV vaccine candidate that is going to clinical trials. Sir Houghton also directs the Li Ka Shing Applied Virology Institute at the University of Alberta.
More in News