August marks
National Immunization Awareness Month, a campaign promoting the importance of routine vaccinations for adults and children. For COVID-19, Moderna and Pfizer have been working to update their COVID-19 booster vaccines, which the Biden-Harris Administration have secured
more than 170 million doses of for potential use this fall and winter, and
the availability of
another COVID-19 vaccine for adults was announced earlier this summer and is due in the coming weeks.
Although COVID-19 boosters will be a top priority for public officials worldwide, there are still an abundance of diseases and infections that biotechnology companies, scientists and researchers are working on developing vaccines for today. Some are emerging and generating concern, such as
monkeypox, whereas other diseases are much more common, including the seasonal flu, periodontitis, and illnesses caused by strep bacteria. On a positive note, a 2022 report from the WHO shows the overall share of communicable diseases
decreased globally from over 30 percent in 2000 to roughly 18 percent in 2019.
Here is a roundup of our member companies and institutions that are working on developing vaccines to treat a variety of diseases in innovative ways.
Earlier this summer,
Sorrento Therapeutics dosed its first subject with
STI-1558, the San Diego company’s oral viral protease inhibitor for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. The company says the Phase 1 study will be conducted in Australia, and that this drug could address a need for antiviral drugs with broad-spectrum activities and limited potential for drug-drug interaction risks.
San Diego-based
Cidara Therapeutics is
developing vaccines using drug-Fc conjugates versus traditional pathogen-based or monoclonal antibody treatments. It’s currently in a Phase 3 trial for its anti-fungal treatment, Rezafungin, and Phase 1 of its influenza vaccine. Stay tuned for an upcoming
Member Spotlight later this month with Cidara CEO Jeff Stein to learn more about the company and what else is in their therapeutics pipeline.
In the Bay Area,
Vaxcyte is using its proprietary cell-free protein synthesis platform to
improve existing pneumococcal vaccines and also find treatments for diseases that currently have no cure. In its pipeline is VAX-24, a 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, and they are exploring treatments for Group A Strep and periodontal disease.
Merck also made headway with its
next-gen pneumococcal vaccine, V116, which targets serotypes that cause a majority of pneumococcal infections in people ages 65 and over. The vaccine is nearly ready for a Phase 3 study.
Earlier this year, the WHO and UN noted there has been a
global uptick in the number of measles cases, citing the pandemic causing a disruption in children receiving routine vaccines.
GlaxoSmithKline announced this summer that the
FDA approved Priorix, its new MMR vaccine, for children 12 months and older.
Scientists at
Scripps Research recently identified the cell host proteins that contribute to the multiplication of
Lassa virus. The institute says the virus is prevalent in West Africa and can cause Lassa fever, which has a high mortality rate. The study was recently published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and this discovery could lead to a possible drug target.
