N4 Pharma’s Nuvec can deliver system for vaccines and cancer treatments

N4 Pharma with MedImmune UK, has been studying the level of immune response Nuvec can deliver when combined with a target antigen in a study using messenger RNA (mRNA) and plasmid DNA (pDNA)  encoded with the standard test antigen Ovalbumin (OVA).

The company said in Monday’s announcement that the results show that the Nuvec particles themselves have a clear adjuvant effect to help deliver a level of immune response for both the mRNA and pDNA OVA antigens comparable to that of existing delivery systems. The fact that Nuvec provides such an adjuvant response directly means an additional adjuvant would not be required when formulating a vaccine using Nuvec as the delivery system, 4N Pharma said. The company noted that this would simplify and reduce the production cost of the final vaccine and mean less antigen would be required. Furthermore, the level of immune response is generated using a dose of Nuvec particles that is within acceptable levels showing no adverse toxicity, the company’s announcements reads.

N4 Pharma further said that, as the data received to date indicates that Nuvec will be suitable for use with multiple antigens, it has now shown successful loading and delivery of mRNA as well as pDNA and now have both in vitro and in vivo data to show that Nuvec® not only delivers the mRNA and pDNA intracellularly, it does so to a sufficient level to generate a required immune response.

Nigel Theobald, CEO of N4 Pharma, sees these results as another positive step forward for the Nuvec delivery platform. He pointed out that the data validates the potential of Nuvec to act as an alternative delivery system for the development of vaccines and cancer treatments but without the associated unwanted systemic side effects and with no signs of liver toxicity often seen using lipid nanoparticle systems.

“Our next research study will focus on demonstrating the ability of Nuvec to deliver an effective level of immunity using OVA, results of which will be available in first half of  2019,” he said, adding that the company is building a compelling data package for progressing commercial collaboaration discussions.