Pneumococcal infections continue to constitute a global health burden, and the search for vaccines that can prevent pneumococcal infections includes the vaccines recently approved by Pfizer and Merck. Inventprise is developing a vaccine that has the potential to provide broader protection than both products. The company now has Up to 90 million US dollars From the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support its clinical trial program.
Meningitis and pneumonia are pneumococcal infections, which can be called Streptococcus pneumoniaeThere are approximately 100 known strains of these bacteria. Prevnar 13 is a Pfizer vaccine that can prevent 13 pneumococcal strains and is a best-selling product. The focus of research is to develop vaccines to prevent more of these strains. All summer, FDA approves Merck’s Vaxneuvance to prevent 15 strains, and also Pfizer’s Prevnar 20 has improved 7 strains than Prevnar 13The vaccine designed by Inventprise can prevent 25 pneumococcal strains.
Like Merck and Pfizer’s products, Inventprise’s vaccine IVT-25 is a so-called conjugate vaccine. This vaccine is made by binding antigens to carrier molecules, which trigger an immune response. The larger the capacity of the carrier molecule, the more strains the vaccine can prevent. Inventprise, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, designed the vaccine using its proprietary linker technology, which the company says increases the amount of antigens that the immune system can see. The company argues that this technology solves the problem of reduced immune response observed in the prevention of multiple strains of pneumococcal vaccines.
In animal trials, Inventprise stated that its pneumococcal vaccine is superior to currently available vaccines. Now, the company’s goal is to see if these results can be translated into humans. Inventprise said it plans to start human testing in the second half of 2022. This timetable will enable Inventprise to keep pace with other pneumococcal vaccine developers. Vaxcyte said that it is expected to seek FDA approval in the first quarter of 2022 to begin human testing of its vaccine. A vaccine designed by a biotechnology company headquartered in Foster City, California can protect against 24 strains. Affinivax of Cambridge, Massachusetts also designed a vaccine to prevent 24 strains. The company’s vaccine is in cooperation with Astellas Pharmaceuticals and is in the mid-clinical development phase.
Inventprise was founded in 2012 by CEO Subhash Kapre. The company’s goal is to develop new vaccines that are affordable and accessible to people in low- and middle-income countries. In a prepared statement, Keith Krugman, director of the Gates Foundation’s pneumonia program, pointed out that pneumonia is the leading cause of death for children under 5 years of age.
“The scientific community must work hard to develop more effective vaccines to protect the most vulnerable children from more strains of this devastating disease,” he said. “The Gates Foundation is proud to support this bold cause, which has great potential to save the lives of millions of children in low-income areas.”
The Gates Foundation funds will support Inventprise’s research by completing the first and second phases of testing. Funds from the foundation will be paid when Inventprise reaches manufacturing, preclinical and clinical development milestones. But the progress of pneumococcal vaccine candidates may also herald other Inventprise vaccine programs. The company’s technology is a platform that has been used to develop vaccines against human papillomavirus, group B streptococcus, meningococcus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
Image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
