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THE WISTAR INSTITUTE OBTAINS PATENT FOR UNIVERSAL FLU VACCINE TECHNOLOGY Pennsylvania State Funding Supports Wistar Institute Vaccine Center: $4.2 Million to Pursue Universal Influenza Vaccine, Train Minority Students The Wistar Institute obtained a U.S. patent for a novel synthetic vaccine technology with the potential for further development into a universal flu vaccine which could eliminate the need for annual flu shots and protect against future flu pandemics. U.S. Patent 7,5227,798, “Composition and Method for Preventing or Treating a Virus Infection” covers a variety of peptides that are capable of inducing broad protection against all strains of influenza A virus. Also, in the first funding dedicated to a project of the Wistar Institute Vaccine Center , the Pennsylvania Department of Health has awarded a grant of $4.2 million to support Wistar's development of a universal flu vaccine. The research will be conducted in partnership with organizations including the University of Pennsylvania , Children's Hospital of Philadelphia , and Temple University . The funding also will enable Wistar to partner with Lincoln University and Cheyney University to provide research training to undergraduate minority students and their instructors. The funding, which will begin June 1 and extend for four years, includes support for research facilities, equipment, and supplies; internships for Lincoln and Cheyney students; and participation of Cheyney University faculty members and a program coordinator. The project will take place at the new Wistar Institute Vaccine Center , launched May 31. The effort will be led by Vaccine Center founding director Hildegund C.J. Ertl, M.D., a viral immunologist with 20 years' experience in vaccine development, and a team of other top Wistar researchers. “A universal influenza vaccine would allow us to guard against evolving strains, including the avian flu,” Ertl said. “It would also provide better protection for vulnerable populations, such as the elderly.” Influenza viruses are associated with an estimated 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths annually in the United States , as well as hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. Wistar researchers will work to create a universal vaccine that is effective against all strains of influenza. One major limitation of current influenza vaccines is that they provide protection against only the virus strain contained in the vaccine. Each year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection tries to predict which strain of influenza will be most prevalent in the coming year, and then vaccine manufacturers use that strain to produce the annual flu vaccine. Current flu vaccines trigger an immune response to a pair of prominent viral-coat proteins that mutate constantly, which is the reason last year's flu vaccine is ineffective against this year's flu strains. As a result, people must receive annual flu immunizations to be protected against the strain expected to circulate each year. The Wistar vaccine prototype targets a more stable region of the virus. It contains an engineered peptide that mimics a third, smaller viral-coat protein called M2 that remains largely constant from year to year. A vaccine that induces immunity to M2 has the potential to protect against all strains of influenza A. “A successful M2 vaccine has the potential to eliminate both the need for annual flu vaccinations as well as the manufacturing and supply problems associated with the development of annual flu vaccines that are effective against only one strain of the virus,” said Meryle Melnicoff, Ph.D., director of business development for The Wistar Institute. In preclinical studies by the Wistar inventors, Walter Gerhard, M.D., and Laszlo Otvos,Ph.D., the experimental vaccine was administered intranasally to mice. After vaccination, a steep rise in M2-specific antibodies was seen in blood samples from the mice, and the mice exhibited protection against influenza virus infection of the respiratory tract. The findings were published in the June 2, 2003 issue of the journal. |
