Ichor Medical Systems (Ichor) recently announced it has joined a product advancement collaboration and license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals (Janssen). Both parties will be working together to advance and market DNA-based vaccine products to treat patients with chronic hepatitis B
clinically administered through the Company’s TriGrid™ electroporation
technology. Ichor will be receiving R&D development and support, an
upfront payment and additional sales payments up to a total of $85
million, as well as royalty payments resulting from any licensed product
sales in the future. Janssen will take responsibility for development
and commercialization costs that might result from the program such as
for distribution and manufacturing expenses for Ichor’s TriGrid Delivery
System.
DNA vaccines are capable of generating antigen-specific antibodies
and T cells crucial to treat the HBV infection over the long-term.
However, the effectiveness of DNA vaccines when delivered through the
conventional injection approach yields poor results. Electroporation —
the technology behind Ichor’s TriGrid drug delivery system — is a strong
and effective method to deliver vaccines. It uses weak electrical
pulses to alter cell membranes and to ease the entrance of DNA into
cells. The TriGrid Delivery System by Ichor is currently under testing
in clinical trials, becoming the first integrated and
completely automated technology to be used in humans and for
electroporation-mediated DNA administration. Previous
assessments evidenced that the TriGrid can significantly enhance immune
responses and the delivery of vaccines if compared to the conventional
approaches such as via ordinary injection.
Read more... Labels: DNA-based vaccine, Ichor, Janssen, TriGrid Delivery System