Emergex Signs Agreement with Mason Science Researchers for Highly Pathogenic RNA Virus Studies
Emergex Vaccines and George Mason University’s (Mason)National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases (NCBID) entered into an agreement relating to the development of CD8+ priming RNA virus vaccines
In particular, NCBID researchers will partner to provide additional expertise, resources, and vital samples to complement Emergex’s existing vaccine programs, including for SARS-CoV-2
Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited (‘Emergex’), a biotechnology company developing CD8+ priming set-point vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the George Mason University, based in Virginia, in the United States.
The agreement specifies that George Mason University’s National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases will provide their unique expertise and resources as a partner in the development of Emergex’s vaccines against highly pathogenic RNA viruses. In particular, George Mason University’s Biosafety 3 capabilities, coupled with their experience in dealing with RNA viruses, means that they are a well-suited collaborator on the vaccine validation studies, as well as the optimization of vaccine design.
Professor Thomas Rademacher, CEO and co-founder of Emergex, commented, “Everyone in the world today has or will be affected by highly pathogenic RNA viruses such as bird flu, Ebola, COVID-19, etc. These viruses have caused significant morbidity and mortality, especially in high-risk groups such as the immunocompromised or elderly. We are therefore very excited to announce today this agreement with George Mason University, which adds an important capability to Emergex’s vaccine program.”
Dr Aarthi Narayanan, Associate Professor of Systems Biology in George Mason University’s College of Science, added, “My colleagues and I are looking forward to partnering with Emergex and we are especially pleased to be lending our expertise to efforts to create a vaccine during these challenging times. As members of the faculty of a premier research university, we work with other thought leaders to address global threats. This is how we make progress, and collaboration is the top priority for the College of Science, the Institute for Biohealth Innovation, and the University as a whole.”
Emergex’s set-point vaccines have been designed to offer advantages compared to traditional vaccines. These vaccines modify the initial immune status of the recipients in a way that ‘primes’ their immune systems to recognise subsequent infectious agents much like a natural infection would do, and thus preventing an acute or severe manifestation of the disease. They do this by providing a cell-mediated immune response (a T-cell response) rather than a humoral immune response (an antibody based immune response) which should stimulate longer lasting immunity. They are self-adjuvanted and limit or eliminate the allergic, autoimmune or antibody mediated side effects associated with the traditional vaccines. They are also 100% synthetic and do not contain any RNA or DNA – do not use inactivated or live-attenuated pathogens – and therefore should be inherently safer to develop and use.
About Emergex
Emergex, a UK-based biotechnology company headquartered in Abingdon, UK, is pioneering the development of set-point vaccines to address some of the world’s most immediate health threats such as Dengue Fever, Zika, Ebola, pandemic flu and serious intra-cellular bacterial infections.
These set-point vaccines are population based and modify the initial immune status of recipients in a way that ‘primes’ their immune systems to recognise subsequent infectious agents much like a natural infection would do, preventing an acute or severe manifestation of the disease.
Emergex combines validated technologies together with the very latest scientific insights to develop its vaccines, including using synthetic peptide codes determined on actual infected cells and using a proprietary gold nanoparticle carrier system for programming.
The Company has a growing pipeline of vaccine candidates. The most advanced development programme is a vaccine for Dengue Fever, which may also be disease modifying for other Flaviviruses such as the Zika and Yellow Fever viruses. Emergex also has programmes in development for a universal Influenza vaccine and a universal Filovirus vaccine (including viruses such as Ebola and Marburg) and discovery programmes for a Yellow Fever Booster vaccine and a Chikungunya vaccine.
Find out more online at www.emergexvaccines.com.
About the NCBID at George Mason University
George Mason University Biomedical Research Laboratoryis one of thirteen Regional Biocontainment Laboratories constructed with funding support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health (NIAID/NIH). The BRL is a state-of-the-art laboratory with biosafety level 3 and aerosolization capabilities where scientists perform pioneering research of infectious diseases, both emerging and potential bio threat agents. Learn more at ncbid.gmu.edu.
