Scancell founder says the company is ready to commercialise novel medicines to counteract cancer. Watch the video here.
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I agree with Bermuda.
Biontech have been trumpeting the cause concerning mRNA vaccines for ages now. They are hardly likely to switch to DNA.
mRNA being, based on production of whole proteins, is maybe simply not flexible enough to provide a universal Covid19 vaccine.
The Scancell approach of targeting specific epitopes, some of which are likely to be conserved across future mutations is possibly a better approach.
If you couple this with the Immunobody approach that gives the T Cells of high avidity, which is maybe even further enhanced by Avidimab then you have a very promising approach. Remember also that the approach has already been shown to be successful against Melanoma.
It might be that T Cell avidity is the key.
Bermuda,
I have to agree with your analysis. The only known tie up between Scancell and BioNtech has been the grand challenge and the Moditope/TCR research. We have no recent evidence to suggest these are still on-going but no concrete evidence that they have been officially terminated.
There has been no suggestion that there is a tie up on Covidity. I think the approaches are so different it would be difficult to find synergy but I am not an immunologist so couldn't say for sure.
RG in the 2018 proactive interview about the BioNTech collaboration that Lindy and Ugur Sahin got along very well. This was before Sahin became internationally famous but I'm sure they chat now again whether or not there is any formal "collaboration" taking place. So if things on the Modi/TCR changed then I'm sure BioNtech would know about it.
Moonparty , Seems so. Sadly reminds me of SCIP1 years ago, after Its success. Not taken up by any Pharma.
Hoping that history doesn't repeat Itself. IMO.
TF,
I think you (and a few others) are making too much of my comment...
"It would be good to clarify the exact nature of any relationship if any before getting too carried away."
My only motivation was to establish the facts. Following that, whether you, I or anyone wants to get carried away or cease getting carried away is entirely their own choice.
If you listen to the RG interview there are plenty of things still applicable, foe example WHY BioNTech chose to partner with Scancell. These reasons still apply but also would apply to partnering with any other big pharma.
Ray,
Your 12.47 “It might be that T Cell avidity is the key.”
The following item backs your comment up:-
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220811/Experts-urge-FDA-to-include-T-cell-responses-when-evaluating-COVID-vaccines.aspx
“Consistent with this perspective, 70 investigators signed a letter to the FDA on April 21, 2022, encouraging the inclusion of T cell responses in addition to antibody titers for the evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in humans.”
No Ruck. I wasn't getting 'carried away'. Your words.
Hi TF- yes thanks to Cleanerworld for posting the manu link but it does specify the whole plant is based around mRNA and that is where Bion Tech see their future in developing the platform for other infectious diseases and wider applications like oncology.
Looking at the timings of Approval 3/1/20 and first Vax production Feb 21 after purchasing site from Novartis in September 20 I think a lot of initial,plan was to use Pfizer Belgium facilities and then add capacity which Bion Tech have done.
But the mRNA is Bion Tech lead programme so unlikely to want to switch focus to a DNA platform imo.
Even though DNA is a relatively easy and cheap Vax to manu finding suitable facilities will be an issue as many are committed to Covid/Flu/RSV etc but until we have p1 results then will have to wait and see but agree with Bermuda any partner likely to be someone who needs a Covid Vax rather than Bion Tech who already has the market leader.
But if results are stellar then that opens up the field.
please see below inrelkation to the quote from Ivy "Covid Vax rather than Bion Tech who already has the market leader."
from Bloomberg :
the factory can still change to DNA its got time
"Scientists fear the omicron shots coming this fall won’t be much better at keeping people from getting Covid-19 than what’s come before. That’s pushing drugmakers to start working on next-generation vaccines that don’t have to be updated that often, if at all."
ByMadison Muller, Riley Griffin, and Fiona Rutherford
10 August 2022, 19:05 BST
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Scientists fear the omicron shots coming this fall won’t be much better at keeping people from getting Covid-19 than what’s come before. That’s pushing drugmakers to start working on next-generation vaccines that don’t have to be updated that often, if at all.
Testing shows that omicron-specific vaccines under development at Moderna Inc. and the partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE will be “little or no better” than the currently available boosters, according to John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Hi Johnny
Lindy may well may know more about T Cells than many of the scientists employed by big pharma.
It's not just the fact that that Immunobody activates T cells. The dual presentation of the vaccine to the dendritic cells is what gives it its power.
1 The activated T Cells have higher than normal avidity
2 Clonal expansion is stronger
3 The is strong evidence from the SCIB1 clinical trial and also mice experiments with SCIB2 that a strong memory response is created.
Ultimately, it this this strong memory response that may give Covidity a long lasting effect.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2550-z
From the abstract
"Thus, infection with betacoronaviruses induces multi-specific and long-lasting T cell immunity against the structural N protein. Understanding how pre-existing N- and ORF1-specific T cells that are present in the general population affect the susceptibility to and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection is important for the management of the current COVID-19 pandemic."
This article was dated June 2020.
Lindy's decision to target the N protein predates this article by almost 2 months.
https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/SCLP/scancell-development-of-vaccine-against-covid-19-n4dr22ko1qptgp6.html
"Scancell's DNA vaccine will target the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein and the key receptor-binding domain of the spike (S) protein to generate both T cell responses and VNAbs against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The N protein is highly conserved amongst coronaviruses; therefore, this new vaccine has the potential to generate protection not only against SARS-CoV-2, but also against new strains of coronavirus that may arise in the future."
Afternoon CW,
Some really good links and totally understand why the logic of a potential partnership between Bion Tech and SCLP but their are extremely big strategic considerations that will weigh very heavy in the equation.
Sales of the mRNA Vaccine is likely to total $70bn in 2921 and 2022 plus then add in all the extra mRNA Covid variants plus the potential Flu and RSV Vaccines that Pfizer currently has in development.
There are collaborations and partnerships throughout pharma for very good reasons but signing a deal with SCLP based on a phase 1 trial with limited numbers for a Universal Covid Vax when themselves and Pfizer see mRNA as their flagship Vax platform moving forward risks that current partnership if they do a deal with SCLP so I personally just can’t see it happening when so much is at stake for Bion Tech in their current Pfizer deal.
Cleaner nice link - reads like the piece I saw earlier. Thanks.
Ray an interesting observation about Prof Lindy and 'her' T-cells.
I wonder what will, (rather than might), come out of all this, one day.
Don’t forget early investment July 2019 by r mile group into Biontech
https://www.life-sciences-germany.com/index-term/biontech-redmile-group-investment-nasdaq-bntx-mrna-technology-2001-121283.html
Prof. Ugur Sahin, CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech added: “This financing round is a significant milestone that recognizes our scientific and initial clinical track record to date. With our ongoing focus on bringing together transformative technologies, it is exciting to have the support from high-technology investors who see the accelerating convergence of biology with bioinformatics, robotics and artificial intelligence as an opportunity to develop more precise, efficacious and cost-effective individualized immunotherapies.”
The funding follows the Series A financing of USD 270 million announced in January 2018, led by Redmile Group. The previous financings have enabled BioNTech to advance a pipeline of seven product candidates in eight ongoing clinical trials, to establish a second GMP manufacturing license for production of its individualized neoantigen specific immunotherapies and to expand its antibody platform, most recently, through the acquisition of a Phase I/IIa program against pancreatic cancer from MabVax Therapeutics Inc. In conjunction with the MabVax Therapeutics acquisition of assets, the company has also recently established its US research and development facility in San Diego, California.
Hi Ray,
Thank you for your in depth response, I appreciate it.
You are right Lindy certainly is highly knowledgeable and many of the articles I read show that she is definitely ahead of the game.
ATB
Great discussion here all.
So wish the leading health journos were as clued up :)
Perhaps this wee is the week...