Uvax Bio to give a Preclinical Development Update on its HIV-1 Vaccine at the World Vaccine Congress – West Coast 2023

NEWARK, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Uvax Bio, LLC, a privately held, preclinical-stage vaccine development company, today announced that Dr. Jiang Zhu, Associate Professor of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at Scripps Research, and Co-founder of Uvax Bio, LLC will be presenting a review of the development of Uvax Bio’s HIV-1 vaccine candidates including the latest results from the company’s preclinical studies confirming safety and immunogenicity in rodent models. The presentation will be during the World Vaccine Congress – West Coast in Santa Clara, California on November 30^th.

Dr. Zhu invented the UFO HIV antigen trimer and utilized his single-component self-assembling protein nanoparticle (1c-SApNP®) vaccine platform technology to produce the two vaccines that were used in the preclinical program. Zhu added the innovative step to further modify his vaccine with a process called glycan trimming which demonstrated enhanced immune responses in the studies. The glycan trimming approach – referred to as “low-sugar vaccination” - was recently named one of IUPAC’s Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry. The 1c-SApNP platform technology and HIV-1 vaccine candidates have been exclusively licensed to Uvax Bio under a comprehensive agreement with Scripps Research.

Animal Studies Show High Response Rates and Broad Neutralization

In a recent preclinical immunogenicity study in rats, Uvax Bio tested its HIV-1 vaccines (UVAX-1107 and UVAX-1197) in different regimens, each combined with CpG 1018^® adjuvant (Dynavax Technologies Corporation) and Alhydrogel^® (Croda). Overall, immunization with Uvax’s HIV-1 vaccines elicited robust autologous tier 2 neutralization, with >93% showing positive neutralization. Furthermore, preliminary neutralization screening against a 12-virus panel of heterologous tier 2 HIV-1 pseudoviruses shows that 54 out of 72 rats tested thus far (75%) showed ≥ 50% neutralization against at least one non-vaccine-matched pseudovirus.

“Our preclinical studies have confirmed both the safety and robust immunogenicity of our vaccine candidates for HIV-1. These data combined with our completed GMP manufacturing of the vaccine supplies were the final steps in our preparation for human trials,” said Ji Li, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Uvax Bio.

About Uvax Bio

Uvax Bio, a spin-off vaccine company from Scripps Research, employs proprietary 1c-SApNP® platform technology invented by Dr. Jiang Zhu of Scripps Research to develop and commercialize prophylactic vaccines to prevent life-threatening infectious diseases. The vaccines in development by Uvax Bio present a virus-sized protein nanoparticle with many copies of the antigen in its pre-fusion state. Animal studies have confirmed robust levels of broadly neutralizing antibodies in multiple disease states. Uvax Bio holds the exclusive worldwide rights to the 1c-SApNP® platform and an expanding portfolio of 12 patented preclinical optimized vaccine candidates. In addition to the leading candidates in HIV-1, Uvax is also working to advance universal influenza and RSV/hMPV vaccines. The 1c-SApNP technology enables the production of virus-like protein particles that can display 20-60 pre-fusion stabilized antigens targeting a wide range of viral and bacterial diseases. The vaccines are produced using a single step, universal, cell-based manufacturing process.

For more information on Uvax Bio, visit www.uvaxbio.com.

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