Vaxxinity hopes its Covid Jab technology will help treat Alzheimer’s

The American biotechnology company Vaxxinity has raised the possibility of advances in the treatment of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s as a result of unprecedented resources and energy channeled into vaccine research since the start of the pandemic.

Covid-19 already gave rise to the first approved mRNA-based vaccines and now Vaxxinity is developing a new feature of coronavirus with synthetic proteins that it claims can have wide application.

“Some of the most successful drugs today are biological drugs, but they are very expensive and often uncomfortable to use. Our vision is to alter this class of drugs through next-generation vaccines, ”Mei Mei Hu, executive director of Vaxxinity, told the Financial Times.

Vaxxinity’s Covid-19 stroke, currently in phase 2 trials, uses a technique that also applies to its “immunotherapeutic” vaccines that “train the body to produce its own antibodies against internal disease targets.” It could also be used against neurodegenerative conditions.

The trait is more similar to the more traditional recombinant coronavirus protein vaccines being developed by Sanofi / GSK and Novavax. But instead of growing protein in large tubs, Vaxxinity proteins are made from chemicals.

These so-called synthetic peptides mimic the spike protein, as do other vaccines, but also other proteins from the Sars-Cov-2 virus that causes Covid-19.

“Marketing Covid not only means demonstrating an aspect, a modality of our platform for infectious diseases, but also being able to fuel the development of other programs from this technology platform,” Hu said.

Vaxxinity’s Alzheimer’s drug, which he says uses a similar technology, encourages the body to remove poorly folded proteins from the brain called amyloid plaques, because genetic analysis has linked them to symptoms of the disease. A completed phase 2 trial was not large enough to draw statistically valid conclusions, so it is moving to a larger study, Hu said.

Approximately 35 million people suffer from cognitive illness worldwide and almost all existing drugs to combat the disease only treat their symptoms. On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first Alzheimer’s drug that aims to slow the progression of the disease.

Other pharmaceutical companies have tried to develop drugs similar to Vaxxinity treatment before, but have failed. An injectable monoclonal antibody treatment developed by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson was stopped in 2012 after a small proportion of cases developed inflammation in the brain in clinical trials. Vaxxinity said it has solved this problem and now the product is safe and consistent.

The coronavirus has accelerated all of Vaxxinity’s work, Hu said. “We have compressed what would have taken much longer in this time of covid pandemic. Things that would have taken five years are compressed to 18 months. “

Hu added that the company had expanded its internal infrastructure to support global clinical trials and was working to quickly create a reliable supply chain.

Since the contributions for the Covid-19 shot, known as UB-612, are comparatively cheap and the vaccine does not need to be frozen, the company expects to sell mainly to lower-income countries. However, he says he has also taken an interest in developed markets, including the EU. Although the shooting is not yet approved, Vaxxinity has already confirmed the 140 million dose demand, he says.

Caroline Casey, of the scientific analytics company Airfinity, said Vaxxinity was one of several pharmaceutical companies, such as Modern American Biotechnology, that gained momentum from the development of Covid-19 vaccines.

“If they are going to make a Covid vaccine and have some vaccines similar to their pipe, making one will massively help classify the manufacture of others,” he said.

Vaxxinity is a U.S.-based affiliate of United Biomedical, a Taiwanese pharmaceutical group founded by Wang Chang-yi, Hu’s mother. He is also developing drugs for migraines and hypercholesterolemia, a condition that has high levels of fat in the blood.

Hu said his team had grown to respond to the pandemic. “As a result, we are better positioned with respect to our other pipeline, including neuroimmune and other diseases,” he said. “It has definitely accelerated the company’s trajectory.”