ORT-VAC DNA vaccine reduces TB in mice, study finds
Pre-clinical results demonstrate successful oral vaccine delivery
The results of a study to develop an oral vaccine to treat TB have shown that the ORT-VAC DNA vaccine produced higher immune responses in mice than the injected version. This resulted in a reduction of the TB bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis in immunised mice.
Previous studies using ORT-VAC to deliver protein vaccines have protected against bubonic plague and anthrax in mice.
RecipharmCobra Biologics, the biologics division of Recipharm of Sweden, conducted the study in collaboration with the Royal Holloway, University of London and the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy, and the findings are published in the journal Vaccine.
RecipharmCobra’s ORT-VAC technology uses live, modified Salmonella bacteria to deliver a TB vaccine orally. The DNA vaccine uses a gene from a disease-causing micro-organism to stimulate an immune response, the firm said.
ORT-VAC stabilises plasmids without the need for antibiotics, so no antibiotic resistance genes are present, which also reduces the potential transfer risk to pathogens, resulting in antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’.
Simon Saxby, VP of Biologics at RecipharmCobra Biologics, said: ‘This study illustrates the versatility of RecipharmCobra’s ORT-VAC technology to provide a delivery route for needle-free administration of a DNA vaccine.
‘A vaccine based on ORT-VAC could be inexpensive to produce, simple to distribute and easy to administer, which is essential for tackling the disease in developing countries.’