Panvax signs agreement with US institute to develop malaria vaccine

Melbourne's Austin Research Institute (ARI) and vaccine developer Panvax have signed an agreement with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research to develop an experimental malaria vaccine.

Panvax, a subsidiary of Melbourne biotech Prima BioMed (ASX:PRR), owns commercial rights to the novel DC-Tag immunity-boosting technology developed by the ARI's Dr Magda Plebanski.

DC-Tag exploits Plebanski's seminal discovery that dendritic cells, the forward sentries of the immune system, prime strong cell-mediated and antibody-mediated immunity if vaccine antigens are delivered as virus-sized particles.

Historically, conventional vaccines have primed strong humoral (antibody-mediated) immunity, but not cell-mediated (cytotoxic) immunity. Cell-mediated immunity is vital for eliminating cells harbouring infectious viruses, bacteria -- or intracellular parasites like the Plasmodium falciparum, the agent of malaria.

The collaborative project, which will involve Plebanski's ARI team and WRAIR malaria researchers, will develop an experimental vaccine based on antigens from the two main agents of human malaria -- P. falciparum, and P. vivax.

Prima BioMed's business development and IP manager, Vanessa Waddell, said the antigens are MSP-1 p42 (merozoite surface protein-1) from the blood stage of P. vivax, and LSA-1 (liver-stage antigen-1 from P. falciparum.

Waddell said that, under the agreement, Panvax will have commercial rights to all non-military uses of any successful malaria vaccine developed with DC-Tag technology, while the US Army will have commercial rights to a military vaccine -- but Panvax would probably manufacture and supply the vaccine to the military.

Waddell said the company had received some criticism for its involvement in developing a malaria vaccine.

While such a vaccine was unlikely to be commercially profitable, given its primary market would be in impoverished Third World nations, the project was undertaken because of Plebanski's interest developing a malaria vaccine, and it was an ideal vehicle for a proof-of-concept project to demonstrate DC-Tag's potential.

"It's also an area in which a fair amount of soft money is available for R&D, through programs like the international Malaria Vaccine Initiative."

Waddell said if the project was successful, Prima BioMed would probably out-license the malaria vaccine, and leverage its success to establish new partnerships to develop vaccines for other major, intractable infectious diseases.

Prima CEO Marcus Clarke described the signing of the R&D collaboration with the largest and most diverse biomedical research institute in the US Department of Defence as "a strong indication of the potential of DC-Tag's breakthrough potential in the international quest for an effective malaria vaccine.

The project represents the third investment by the Walter Reed Army Research Institute in Australian biotechs in recent months.

The Institute has signed collaborative projects with Neuren, which has an experimental neuroprotective peptide to ameliorate traumatic brain injuries, and Proteome Systems, which is identifying new molecular targets for tuberculosis drugs.