This state-of-the-art development works by teaching the immune system how to recognize tumor cells or infected cells in disease including melanoma, malaria and hepatitis and respond by producing large numbers of "killer T-cells" to fight the specific disease condition.

The research centers around a T-cell subpopulation, called CD8+, which clinical trials have shown to be important in the fight against certain infections and cancers.

The scientists have developed an approach that involves immunization with two different elements carrying a specific disease-related antigen.

The first element, the "prime," teaches the immune system to recognise the antigen. The second element, the "boost," is based on a modified adenovirus that can no longer produce an infection.

Once this viral vaccine boost has been introduced into the body, the immune system remembers the antigen and triggers the production of huge quantities of specific, effective CD8+ killer T cells.

This results in a magnified immune response to cancer cells or infected cells, which could overwhelm and halt early disease in its tracks.

The vaccine approach has been licensed globally and exclusively to an Oxford University spin-out company, Oxxon Pharmaccines. It is envisaged that the adenovirus vaccine will work in conjunction with a range of priming agents that are currently being developed by the company and complement their existing programs in melanoma and hepatitis B.

Academic trials into a prime boost malaria vaccine, which works by recognizing antigen protein fragments from the malaria parasite, are already underway in the Gambia, directed by Professor Adrian Hill of Oxford's Department of Medicine.

Commenting on the vaccine technology and license, David Phillips, Oxxon's CEO, said, "This innovative technology from Oxford University further broadens our portfolio of vaccination strategies for boosting T cell responses. It's also a good example of how academia and commercial science can work together to bring scientific advances out of the laboratory and into the market where they can have a real effect on people's lives."

Oxford University is a global center of excellence for research in the humanities and sciences and currently has the highest international research standing of all UK universities.

The University's wholly-owned technology transfer company, Isis Innovation, is a world leader in university technology transfer and currently files a patent a week and spins-out a company every two months based on academic research.

The combined value of Oxford's companies has reached £2 billion, using quoted market capitalizations and investor valuations for unquoted companies. These companies have created 4,000 jobs and some 30 millionaires.

Oxxon Pharmaccines is an Oxford-based company developing innovative therapeutic vaccines (pharmaccines) for the treatment of chronic infectious diseases and cancer. The Company has achieved several milestones including the completion of an extensive pre-clinical program which has demonstrated the potential of Oxxon's prime boost technology and the Company has a melanoma pharmaccine candidate in Phase I clinical trials, with another candidate in hepatitis B due to enter the clinic shortly. Clinical trials using the prime boost in an academic setting have started in malaria and AIDS.

Related websites:

Isis Innovation

Oxxon Pharmaccines

24-Jul-2001