In May 2024 SpyBiotech announced a sponsored research agreement with the University of Oxford for the development of a vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The project is to combine Oxford’s “groundbreaking” academic research capabilities with SpyBiotech’s proprietary SPYVLP platform technology to advance three vaccine candidates to Phase I clinical trial. EBV is a “commonly spread virus” that can cause “several serious health conditions”, such as infectious mononucleosis, and is linked to various cancers and multiple sclerosis.
EBV
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is one of the most commonly spread human viruses, transmitted through saliva. While many people recover within a few weeks, for some individuals it can lead to “a number of health conditions”. Indeed, research has linked people with multiple sclerosis and some lymphomas to infection with the virus.
SPYVLP
SpyBiotech’s technology addresses current complications with virus-like particle approaches to vaccine development. It can split a protein from the common bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes into two parts:
- The SpyTag peptide can be bound to antigens and its partner protein SpyCatcher
- SpyCatcher binds to the VLP
The two components bind together in a “spontaneous conjugation forming an unbreakable covalent bond”. The process is “rapid, efficient, irreversible, and extremely versatile”. Under the terms of the agreement, SpyBiotech will provide access to this platform to Oxford researchers.
An important step
Mark Leuchtenberger, CEO at SpyBiotech, believes the collaboration is an “important step forward on a commonly spread virus” that has “no currently available vaccines or therapeutics for its prevention or spread”.
“We see a great need for a vaccine against EBV.”
President and CSO of SpyBiotech, Dr Sumi Biswas, is “keen to progress these vaccine candidates” with Professor Sandy Douglas and his team at the Jenner Insitute, after the generation of “promising” pre-clinical data.
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