Henderson and ACVD collaborative for new vaccine

Drug discovery company Henderson Morley is to combining its technologies with those from the Australian Centre for Vaccine Development (ACVD) to develop a vaccine able to treat cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease in unborn children.

The collaboration is t he result of a material transfer and collaborative research agreement between the two parties.

The vaccine will be created to target different strains of CMV by using an ACVD-developed CMV polyepitope antigen and incorporating it into Henderson's PREPS and L-particles delivery vector.

ACVD has a reputation for quality research and is at the forefront in the discovery of candidate vaccine antigens as well as vaccine production and the testing of potential vaccines and drugs at the cellular, animal model and clinical levels.

Henderson Morley is developing PREPS and L-particles vaccine candidates based upon non-replicating herpes viruses that are DNA free.

CMV is one of the most important preventable infectious diseases of unborn children in the developed world and can cause birth defects, including brain damage and deafness.

Director of ACVD, associate Professor Rajiv Khanna, who will be leading the collaboration at ACVD, said: ". "I am very excited to be working on this important vaccine program using PREPS and L-particles as a delivery vector for the antigens developed by QIMR. Earlier studies, using a different viral vector were very successful, and PREPS and L-particles offer advantages over this. I am therefore optimistic for a successful outcome from this collaboration."

Executive chairman of Henderson Morley, Andrew Knight, said: "The opportunity this collaboration presents is highly significant both for the development of a successful vaccine against CMV disease and for the company."

ACVD is part of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.