Agilvax, Inc., a UNM start-up headquartered in Albuquerque, recently announced news of pending issuance of U.S. and European patents for its VLP platform technology being developed for vaccines and cancer immunotherapy. Dr. David Peabody and Dr. Bryce Chackerian, Professors in the Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology at the University of New Mexico, are co-inventors of the VLP (virus-like particles) platform technology. The faculty inventors have been collaborating since 2006 to develop various vaccines from the technology. VLPs are viruses that have had their DNA removed so that they retain their external structure but are unable to replicate. Whey they are injected into the body, they induce an immune response without causing infection. The technology uses a family of viruses that infect bacteria—called RNA bacteriophages—to construct the VLPs. The bacteriophages can be produced at high yields, are very adaptable to protein engineering and can’t infect people—characteristics that make for a very versatile and useful vaccine platform that can produce vaccines that are highly effective and extremely safe. HPV, malaria, RSV, and Dengue vaccines are currently in development at Agilvax, with NIH pre-clinical support for the HPV and malaria vaccines. The company is also using the VLP technology to develop immunotherapies for cancer treatment. Agilvax is also collaborating with a biotechnology company on a vaccine for Ebola. For more information, see Agilvax’s news release below.
AGILVAX RECEIVES NOTICE OF ALLOWANCE FOR U.S. AND EUROPEAN PATENTS COVERING ITS VACCINE AND CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM TECHNOLOGY
Albuquerque, NM, February 29th, 2016 – Agilvax, Inc. (www.agilvax.com) is pleased to announce that it has recently received a Notice of Allowance in United States Patent Application serial number 13/520,057 and an Intention to Grant in European Patent Application 10841780.9 entitled, “Plasmids and Methods for Peptide Display and Affinity-Selection on Virus-Like Particles of RNA Bacteriophages”. This platform has produced multiple cancer immunotherapies and vaccines, which are undergoing evaluation in preclinical studies.
“This unique virus-like particle (VLP) library and affinity selection process is a first-in class technology and we are pleased that the United States Patent and Trademark Office recognizes the novelty, utility and application of this platform” commented Federica Pericle, PhD, MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer of Agilvax. “We knew of the power of the technology platform and being awarded these patents is the ultimate validation and we are excited to progress our lead candidates.
Agilvax’s intellectual property portfolio related to VLPs contains these soon to be issued patents and nine pending patent applications in several countries across the globe. These patents and patent applications cover composition of matter and methods of use.
About Agilvax
Agilvax (www.agilvax.com) is a biotechnology company that is developing targeted vaccines and cancer immunotherapies based on a proprietary virus-like particle (VLP) platform technology. The technology integrates epitope identification and immunogenic presentation of epitopes in a single platform. Agilvax is advancing cancer immunotherapies targeting breast and metastatic cancers and vaccines targeting HPV, RSV, malaria and ebola. The Company was founded in 2011 and has headquarters in Albuquerque, NM and an office in El Paso, TX.