According to the company, these results are the first that describe the protective immunity elicited by a multivalent vaccine that is active by the mucosal route.
The vaccine consists of a combination of three non-toxic subunits of botulinum toxin that induced protection against the corresponding versions of the natural toxins.
The results published in Infection and Immunity show that non-toxic subunits (protein components of the natural toxin) of three of the serotypes of botulinum toxin that cause almost all instances of human disease, namely serotypes A, B, and E, can be combined and delivered via nasal administration.
The combination vaccine induced antibodies in the serum of mice and protected against subsequent exposure to high doses of a combination of the natural A, B, and E serotype neurotoxins. Further, the combination vaccine can induce protection when given mucosally as a booster to animals that have been given a primary vaccine injection.
“We think that these results in animals demonstrate the potential of developing subunit vaccines that can be given by a mucosal route, avoiding the use of needles and injections, with greater ease of administration and convenience for the provider and the patient,” said Christopher Schaber, president and CEO of DOR.
“We expect that the successful development of a multivalent oral botulinum toxin vaccine that can be applied to rapidly deployable mass immunization programs will be a major step forward in biodefense countermeasures,” Schaber concluded.