Evaxion Partners With Afrigen Biologics To Develop Novel mRNA Vaccine Against Gonorrhea
Evaxion Partners With Afrigen Biologics To Develop Novel mRNA Vaccine Against Gonorrhea. Evaxion Biotech A/S, a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of AI-powered immunotherapies, today announced a collaboration with Afrigen Biologics (Afrigen). The collaboration aims at developing a prophylactic vaccine based on Evaxion’s EDEN™-discovered gonorrhea targets.
Evaxion’s Chief Scientific Officer, Birgitte Rønø, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, “We are thrilled about this partnership. It offers a unique opportunity to deliver our EDEN™-identified antigens using mRNA and it accelerates clinical validation of the EDEN™ platform. This partnership has the potential to address a serious unmet global medical need against the pathogen for which no vaccine currently exists.”
Gonorrhea, caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae, is a sexually transmitted disease that exerts a significant influence on global sexual and reproductive health and elevates the susceptibility to HIV, another major health problem in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported an alarming estimate of 82 million new gonorrhea infections occurring annually worldwide with a rise in antibiotic-resistant cases.
The EDEN™-discovered antigens have demonstrated high levels of protection in preclinical studies. This partnership will explore the expression and biological activity of the antigens in mRNA format. Following the validation phase, the partners will negotiate a subsequent agreement for clinical development and commercialization, with the opportunity to bring in additional partners. “We are excited to announce Evaxion’s second partnership this week. This is a further validation of our strategy to identify the right partners who can bring our novel AI-designed vaccines to the market,” said Evaxion CEO Christian Kanstrup.
Afrigen’s Managing Director Professor Petro Terblanche states, “This innovative exciting partnership enables the mRNA technology platform established at Afrigen through the support of the WHO and MPP to expand the pipeline of products to be developed for the mRNA Programme. This supports the sustainability of manufacturing capacity being created in the LMIC partners.”
