Could ViRexx Medical s Linked Recognition Research Lead to a Cancer Vaccine
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Could ViRexx Medical’s Linked Recognition Research Lead to a Cancer Vaccine?
Summary
Dr. Lorne Tyrrell, who pioneered lamivudine as a treatment for hepatitis B (HBV), is now exploring new horizons with his innovative development, Chimigen. As CEO of ViRexx Medical, Tyrrell aims to address HBV's challenges and unlock potential solutions for other infectious diseases and cancer.Unlocking a New Era in Vaccine Research
In the 1980s, while preparing a lecture, Dr. Lorne Tyrrell stumbled upon groundbreaking research in "Cell" about hepatitis B replication in duck liver by William Mason and Jesse Summers. It sparked Tyrrell's curiosity about whether HBV could be inhibited by antiviral agents. Collaborating with a nucleoside chemistry expert, this curiosity led to the development of lamivudine, revolutionizing chronic HBV treatment.
More than 350 million people, particularly in Asia, benefited from this breakthrough, providing hope for lifelong infections often contracted at birth. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control estimated that 73,000 Americans were affected by HBV, resulting in approximately 5,000 annual deaths.
Approved in 1998, lamivudine became the standard therapy in 120 countries, also finding use in HIV treatment. Licensed to Glaxo Wellcome, now GlaxoSmithKline, it’s marketed as Epivir. Recognized for this pioneering work, Dr. Tyrrell received accolades, including the Canadian Liver Foundation gold medal and the EnCana Principal Award.
Addressing Unanswered Questions
Despite the accolades, Tyrrell noted lamivudine's limitations, including viral resistance. In Japan, a 2003 study highlighted this concern, concluding that the chronic HBV treatment challenge persists. Observing patients at the University of Alberta's Glaxo Research Lab, Tyrrell recognized those with an immune response alongside lamivudine had better outcomes. Yet, only about 30% remained virus-free a year after stopping the therapy.
Breaking Tolerance
Tyrrell asked himself: How can we break the body's tolerance to HBV and stimulate an immune response? Not satisfied with existing methods, ViRexx Medical explored innovative approaches to target antigens within dendritic cells. This led to Chimigen technology.
“The dendritic cells have receptors for the Fc portion of an antibody,” Tyrrell explained. "We use the Fc portion of a murine (mouse) antibody to attach to our hepatitis B antigens, directing them into dendritic cells in vivo. These cells, the immune system's sentries, recognize the viral antigen as foreign."
The Promise of Linked Recognition
Dr. Rajan George, ViRexx Medical’s VP of research and development, detailed how dendritic cells process this information, presenting it to T-cells, which then attack virus-infected cells.
Tokyos Cancer Institute Hospital's 1987 research suggested that linking virus antigens with tumor immunity markers might be feasible. ViRexx Medical developed a new molecule, chimigen, combining viral antigens with murine monoclonal antibodies.
Chimigen's linked-recognition method could be vital in breaking immune tolerance, noted Dr. George. The immune system begins recognizing threats it used to ignore, potentially explaining lamivudine's previous limitations. ViRexx Medical hopes to stimulate this immune response effectively.
Dr. Tyrrell’s pursuit might soon reveal whether his theories lead to groundbreaking answers.
End of Part One
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