According to Leah Johnson from Imassera News, investing in DNA Vaccines “holds great promise” and “if investors can be patient there can be millions made from investing early.The market is in such an early stage that it is expected to increase from just under $200 million in 2011 to more than $2.7 billion before the end of 2014 (4).” “Scientists are aiming to overcome the constraints of conventional vaccine technology in order to achieve a number of goals. As an investor exciting news such as the clinical advancement of various DNA-based immunotherapies as well as marketing approval of four DNA vaccines for use in animals provides significant encouragement and evidence that there is a promising development path for DNA vaccines. Commercialization success of DNA vaccines will substantially expand the overall market opportunity for vaccines (3).”
Why Invest in DNA Vaccines vs Normal Vaccines?
Steve Christ explains it perfectly, “DNA vaccines are made by placing the genes of a particular viral strain into a circular DNA structure, called a plasmid. Once injected, these plasmids enter the cell structures and begin to produce proteins, which generate the immune response. It is this technique that makes producing commercial quantities of DNA vaccines much faster than the current method.
The key to this process: the immune response is more complete with the DNA method than it is with standard vaccines because they also stimulate the production of killer T cells, which are important in controlling some types of infection (2).”
What Do DNA Vaccines Offer?
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DNA vaccines are efficient at generating T-cell responses that may kill targeted cancerous cells or cells infected by the targeted virus or bacteria.
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DNA vaccines may therefore also be used as a therapeutic to treat existing disease. This capability provides the potential to treat chronic infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C virus, as well as the possibility to develop therapeutic cancer vaccines.
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DNA vaccines can potentially be developed from concept to FDA approval in eight to 10 years, compared to the up to 20-year period it took to develop the chickenpox vaccine.
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DNA vaccines can be readily manufactured using off-the-shelf, well-proven fermentation technology.
- DNA vaccines — in most cases — do not require cold storage and distribution.
“And unlike the old vaccine model, DNA vaccines can’t actually cause disease — a big sticking point for the vaccines we use today (2).”
Making investments in well-run biotech companies that specialize in DNA Vaccines that harbor unique and interesting technologies can pay off big over the long haul.
