Professor Ian Frazer, the man behind both of the HPV vaccines on the market today, Gardasil® (marketed by Merck & Co) and Cervarix® (marketed by GlaxoSmithKline), hasgone back to the drawing board to create a novel therapeutic HPV vaccine for Allied Healthcare Group’s investment company, Coridon. While the existing HPV vaccines are effective at preventing… Read More »
Coridon’s HPV DNA Vaccine Shows Promise in Preclinical Trials
VGXI Enters Into Licensing Agreement with NTC
VGXI has entered into a licensing agreement with Nature Technology Corporation to use their HyperGRO™ Fermentation Technology following the successful scale up of two cGMP fermentation runs. The Woodlands, TX – November 16, 2012 – VGXI, Inc., a leading provider of DNA plasmid contract manufacturing and development services, announced today that it has entered into… Read More »
In the Pipeline – Spotlight on Malaria Vaccine Development
Next up in our discussion of some of the major diseases plaguing human kind today is Malaria. What is Malaria? Like dengue, which I wrote about in my last blog post, malaria is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. However, unlike dengue, malaria is caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium, not a… Read More »
In the Pipeline – Spotlight on Dengue Vaccine Development
First of all, what is dengue? For those of you fortunate enough to live in an area where dengue is not a major concern, you may not be terribly familiar with this widespread disease. In fact, the pronunciation of this mosquito-borne illness might even be a bit of a mystery. Dengue, pronounced “den’-gee”, is a… Read More »
Laser Technology Might be the Key to Pain-Free Injections
Since scientists first realized that the best way to administer a drug was by injecting it directly into the skin, we have been subjected to innumerable shots throughout our lives: the annual flu shot, childhood immunizations, allergy shots, antibiotics, steroids, the list goes on… Shots are a necessary evil, and most people have come to… Read More »
VGXI Successfully Implements NTC's HyperGRO Fermentation
VGXI Successfully Implements NTC’s HyperGRO™ Fermentation for Large-Scale GMP Plasmid DNA Production VGXI announced today that it has successfully scaled-up and completed two large-scale cGMP fermentation runs using Nature Technology Corporation’s HyperGRO™ fermentation system. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The Woodlands, TX – October 12, 2012 – VGXI, Inc., a leading provider of DNA plasmid manufacturing… Read More »
GMP Manufacturing and The 5 Whys
Asking “Why?” may be a favorite technique of your three year old child in driving you crazy, but it could teach you a valuable Six Sigma quality lesson. “The 5 Whys” is a technique used in the Analyze phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) methodology. It is a great Six… Read More »
HIV Gene Therapy Boosts Immune Cells
An abstract released recently reports findings that may have the “potential to reconstitute the immune system” of HIV patients. While the results are preliminary, a small cohort of HIV patients who were administered gene therapy aimed at creating CD4-positive T cells (the target of HIV) subsequently experienced a long-lasting increase in the total number of… Read More »
DNA-Based Gene Therapy Delivered Via Ultrasound
The continued search for effective delivery methods for DNA-based gene therapies and vaccines has led some scientists to explore the idea of ultrasound. Scientists who have evaluated this technique have found that it possesses many attributes of an “ideal” transfer system for gene therapy. It is non-invasive, well-tolerated, and has a nearly flawless safety record… Read More »
Update: Senesco’s SNS01-T with Bortezomib Performs Better
Senesco Technologies, Inc. issued a Press Release on Monday, September 10th, regarding their SNS01-T treatment for multiple myeloma currently undergoing clinical trials. During a recent study, mice were implanted with human myeloma RPMI 8226 cells in the flank. Senesco administered both SNS01-T and one of two different dose levels of bortezomib (active ingredient in VELCADE®)… Read More »
Plasmid DNA vs. Viral-Based Vaccines
In the era of bloodletting and leeches, the discovery of a smallpox vaccine by Edward Jenner in 1796 caused a major paradigm shift in the science of disease prevention. The revolutionary idea that a disease could be prevented by inoculating patients with an inactivated or weakened pathogen spread as rapidly as the infectious agents themselves…. Read More »
Gene Therapy Restores Sense of Smell to Mice
A recent study published by Nature Medicine claims that mice born without a sense of smell have been given the ability to sniff out their surroundings through the use of gene therapy. Born with a genetic disease affecting the cilia, or microscopic hair-like structures on the outside of various cells throughout the body, these mice… Read More »