英国牛津大学１２日宣布，该校一个研究团队所开发的通用流感疫苗在初步临床试验中取得不错效果，接下来将进一步增加对研发的资金投入，并开展更大规模临床试验。
现有的流感疫苗还无法应对所有类型的流感病毒。为了生产出有针对性的流感疫苗，各国往往需要在每个流感季开始前预先分析判断可能出现的流感病毒类型。这种分析主要基于之前一年所收集的流感数据，因此很难确保其结果的准确性。
为此，牛津大学研究人员尝试开发一种能够应对所有类型流感病毒的疫苗。这种通用疫苗主要针对流感病毒中两种特定蛋白质发挥作用，不管病毒表面的蛋白质如何变异，这两种特定蛋白质都不会发生改变。理论上，这种疫苗能够对所有的人类、禽类和猪流感病毒发挥作用。
团队成员之一、牛津大学教授莎拉·吉尔贝介绍说，这种通用疫苗在初步临床试验中显示了很不错的效果，包括在年龄较大的成年人身上接种一年后，仍能发挥很好的保护作用，证明了它的安全性和良好的临床反应。
吉尔贝说，团队今年将开展更大规模临床试验，计划招募1500名志愿者参与其中，以便使疫苗尽快获批。
目前，牛津大学已经将这个疫苗项目孵化成一家名为vaccitech的公司，以吸引更多投资，用于加快包括通用流感疫苗在内的多种疫苗研发。
UniversalfluvaccinedevelopedatOxfordalreadyshowingpromiseinPhaseIIclinicaltrials
Largeinvestmentof￡10mfromOxfordSciencesInnovation
Furtherprogramsincludevaccinestoboostcancerimmunotherapies
OxfordspinoutcompanyVaccitechhaslaunchedtodaywith￡10mseedinvestmenttodevelopauniversalfluvaccinealreadyshowingpromiseinclinicaltrials.Thecompanyisalsodevelopingandtestingothervaccineswhichtriggertheimmuneresponseneededtopreventortreatarangeofseriousdiseases.
Vaccitechhasraised￡10mfrominvestmentcompanyOxfordSciencesInnovationtotakeanumberofvaccinesthroughclinicaltrials.
Thecompany’
smostadvancedprogramisauniversalvaccinetoimprovetheprotectionprovidedbytheseasonalfluvaccinationfortheover-65s.Vaccitechisalsodevelopingaclinicalstagetherapeuticvaccineforprostatecancer,andanumberofadditionalpreclinicalprograms.
Currently,nosinglevaccinecangiveimmunityagainstevenamajorityofcirculatingfluvirusstrains.Instead,fluvaccinesaremanufacturedinadvanceofeachfluseasonusingcomplexforecasting,basedondatafromtheprecedingyear.However,predictingflustrainsisdifficult.Forinstance,recordsfromtheUSCentreforDiseaseControlshowthatin2013/14therateofprotectiondippedaslowas3.4percent.
Eachyearseasonaloutbreaksofflucausethreetofivemillioncasesofseverediseaseandapproximately250,000to500,000deathsworldwide.Youngchildrenandtheelderlyareparticularlyatrisk.
TheJennerInstituteteamisledbyProfessorsAdrianHillandSarahGilbert.ProfessorGilbertsaid:“ClinicaltrialsoftheuniversalvaccinehereinOxfordhaveshowngreatpromise.Thevaccinehasprovensafeandshowngoodclinicalresponses,includingenhancedprotectionagainstthefludetectableinolderadultsevenoneyearaftervaccination.Ithasperformedwellwhengivenwiththestandardfluvaccine.”
“WeareplanningaPhaseIIb,1500patienttrialscheduledtobeginlaterin2016,thenextsteptowardsregulatoryapproval.”
“Tocreateavaccinewhichworksagainsteveryfluvirus,we’vetargetedtwoproteinsinsidetheviruswhichdonotchange,evenasthevirusmutatestheproteinsonitssurface.Thisalsomeansthevaccineshouldworkagainstallhuman,avianandswineinfluenzastrains.”
Vaccitechwillalsobedevelopingatherapeuticcancervaccine,initiallytargetingprostatecancer.
ProfessorHillsaid:“New“checkpointinhibitor”cancertherapiesareprovinghighlyeffectiveattakingthephysiological‘brakes’offtheimmunesystem’sabilitytoidentifyandfighttumourcells.Itisnowwidelyacknowledgedthatcombiningcurrenttherapieswithavaccineelementtofocustheimmuneresponseonkeycancerantigenswillincreasethesuccessofcancerimmunotherapies.”
“Vaccitech’svaccinestimulatesthebodytomountanimmuneattackagainstauniquetumour-specificproteinfoundonthemostcommontypesofsolidcancerincludingprostate,renal,colorectalandlungcancers.”
APhaseI/IIstudytoassesssafetyandefficacyofthisvaccineinmenwithloworintermediateriskprostatecancerisunderwayandrecruitingsubjectsinOxfordandothercentres.
TheUniversity’stechnologycommercialisationcompanyIsisInnovationsupportedtheJennerInstituteteambyfilingpatents,buildingthebusinessplanandmarketingtheopportunity.
IsisInnovationHeadofTechnologyTransfer,LifeSciences,andinterimChairmanofVaccitech,DrAdamStotensaid:“Theneedfornewvaccinestomanageinfectiousdisease,cancerandotherconditionsisenormous,andOxford’sJennerInstituteisattheforefrontofresearchinthisarea.Vaccinesarestillthemostcost-effectivemedicalinterventionwehave,andVaccitech’stechnologyhasthepotentialtosavethousandsofliveseachyear.”
Additionalpre-clinicalprogrammesunderwayatVaccitechincludeavaccineforMiddleEastRespiratorySyndrome(MERS),anemergingvirusforwhichtheWHOreportsa36%mortalityrate.
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