NZ firm Virionyx hits rich research vein

New Zealand biotech Virionyx has hit a rich vein with a development deal for a frontline therapy suitable for a range of high-level infections such as AIDS, SARS, West Nile virus and dengue fever -- plus bioterrorism threats.

The company's new collaboration with two US organisations -- the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and biotech ZeptoMetrix -- is to investigate the blocking of selected protein regions (epitopes) on the life-cycle of the pathogen being targeted.

The epitopes are not recognised by the human immune system but are functionally significant to the pathogen during its life cycle; consequently the neutralising or blocking of the epitopes can inhibit or prevent the pathogen from reproducing.

The technology, developed by Virionyx from pioneer anti-AIDS treatment, also has potential for use as a weapon against possible bio-terrorism threats like smallpox and anthrax.

"The US will spend US$1 billion this year on homeland security and associated threats. We hope we are successful in this area," noted Virionyx COO Dr Arie Geursen. "We are keen to show success in tapping in with our unique approach to developing frontline drugs to combat these threats."

Geursen said the research offered a realistic way to treat diseases such as SARS, but also to address the scourges of the like of dengue fever, which is highly damaging across large parts of Asia.

"Dengue fever is a particularly nasty virus, and if our collaboration allows us to respond as quickly as we think we can -- only 18 months to a medical therapy kit for treatment -- then we will have made some good ground," he said.

The link between the three establishments will see Virionyx's experience in passive immunotherapy with AIDS applied to an eventual production of disease treatment therapies directly from the NZ facility. Geursen said the company had no immediate plans to license its platform; it would instead concentrate on commercialising the product "as far as we can take it," he affirmed.

"The collaborative research we are undertaking will allow us to respond very rapidly to emerging diseases -- in many cases it would simply be impossible to vaccinate against the disease, so we will concentrate on therapies that we will be able to produce quickly.

"This is a tremendous collaboration. We hope our capacity will be recognised and we will land some solid contracts," added Geursen. "We don't have any promises of direct funding as yet, but we are applying to the NIH for a grant, and will look for other funding too."