Study results published in the journal Vaccine show that the orally delivered ORT-VAC DNA vaccine produced higher immune responses in mice than the injected DNA vaccine, according to RecipharmCobra Biologics. This resulted in a reduction in the lungs of the TB bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis in immunized mice. The study was done in collaboration with with the Royal Holloway, University of London and the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
RecipharmCobra's vaccine delivery technology ORT-VAC uses live salmonella bacteria to deliver a TB vaccine orally. The bacteria have been modified so that they do not cause disease. ORT-VAC stabilizes plasmids without the need for antibiotics, so no antibiotic resistance genes are present on the plasmid. This also reduces the potential transfer risk to pathogens, which could result in the generation of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
"Using an attenuated bacterium to deliver vaccines orally is a very exciting new area, and the delivery of DNA vaccines has been particularly challenging," Simon Saxby, VP of Biologics at RecipharmCobra Biologics. "The study illustrates the versatility of RecipharmCobra's ORT-VAC technology to provide a delivery route for needle-free administration of a DNA vaccine. A vaccine based on ORT-VAC could be inexpensive to produce, simple to distribute and easy to administer, which is essential for tackling the disease in developing countries."
- see the RecipharmCobra release