Microscience to develop oral anthrax vaccine

UK-based Microscience is developing an oral anthrax vaccine that will improve protection at vulnerable sites such as the lung and intestine.

Current vaccines require multiple injections over several months in order to confer immunity, but the Microscience vaccine is intended to be administered by mouth as a single dose, providing rapid onset of immunity; as well as providing protective antibody in the blood, the vaccine will provide antibody at mucosal surfaces such as the intestine and the lung.

Microscience is harnessing its novel spi-VEC delivery system based on the use of a live attenuated bacterium, which is also being developed as an oral typhoid vaccine. This vaccine, produced from a manufacturing process capable of being commercialised, has already demonstrated its safety and immunogenicity after administration of a single dose in a clinical study in the US and is now in Phase II clinical development.

The new oral anthrax vaccine is expected to enter clinical trials in 2004. Microscience intend to conduct the trials using product from a manufacturing process developed for the typhoid vaccine, which is likely to reduce considerably development timelines once the product enters the clinic.

Steve Chatfield, r&d director of Microscience, said: 'Our plan is to maintain our scientific and commercial lead in vaccine development by expanding the scope of the spi-VEC delivery platform. In addition this particular vaccine compliments several other of our oral spi-VEC vaccines currently in development and gives us further opportunities in the strategically important area of biodefence.'