Chikungunya fever vaccine undergoes clinical testing for first time

Published: 8-Nov-2013

Developed by Austrian biotech Themis Bioscience, which also plans clinical testing of Dengue fever vaccine


A vaccine against the mosquito-borne infection Chikungunya fever, developed by Vienna-based biotech company Themis Bioscience, is undergoing clinical testing for the first time.

Based on a standard anti-measles vaccine, the new vaccine offers an opportunity to halt the spread of the disease, which was originally restricted to tropical countries, but owing to a lack of vaccinations, is now also becoming a growing threat to industrialised countries as a result of increased foreign travel.

Themis is testing a vaccine based on its Themaxyn platform, which also forms the starting point for a second vaccine candidate against Dengue fever. Both vaccines have already shown a significantly higher efficacy than control groups in preclinical studies, the firm says.

The Chikungunya vaccine is currently being tested in a Phase I clinical study at Vienna General Hospital (AKH).

The primary goals of this study are to demonstrate the safety of the vaccine, as well as its ability to generate a strong immune response. At the same time, the study will provide the clinical proof of concept for Themis's vector technology.

According to the company, the Themaxyn platform offers exceptionally long gene sequences of pathogens which can be introduced into the patient's immune system. This allows for the possibility of mobilising immune responses against several pathogen cell structures with a single vaccine. This is particularly interesting with regard to the Dengue fever vaccine being developed by Themis.

In the case of Dengue fever, four serotypes of the pathogen are actually known and immunisation against one of them does not protect against infection by another serotype. If a person was previously infected by one of the other serotypes, the probability of being seriously affected by the disease rises considerably.

'Because long gene sequences can be inserted, four epitopes – one from each serotype – can be expressed simultaneously, facilitating a tetravalent vaccine,' said Dr Erich Tauber, founder and CEO of Themis. 'The result is an effective vaccine that protects against all known serotypes simultaneously.'

Themis expects to see results from this new study next year. It then plans to begin clinical testing of the Dengue vaccine.

The company has also secured options to develop vaccines against yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile fever and other unnamed indications, based on the Themaxyn platform.

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