The option, which was obtained through negotiation with the Harvard University’s Office of Technology Development, encompasses an issued US patent that covers engineered variants of protective antigen (PA) developed in the Harvard Medical School laboratory of John Collier. PA is the principal determinant of protective immunity to anthrax and is being developed for second- and third-generation anthrax vaccines.
Dor believes that it will be able to develop the Collier anthrax vaccine into one with an improved stability profile, an issue that has proven challenging in the development of other anthrax vaccines.
Christopher Schaber, president and CEO of Dor, said: “We believe that the engineered PA variants can be used in platform technologies for delivery of single use or combination biodefense vaccines and will be useful for generating stable vaccines that induce antibodies in fewer doses than the conventional AVA vaccine or other rPA vaccines currently under development.”