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2013年11月3日日曜日

Coridon、次なる希望!

オーストラリア Queensland UniversityのIan Frazer教授を中心に開発を進めているもので、このブログでも、

  • 「やるじゃん、Coridon」
    http://houseofherpesians.blogspot.jp/2011/10/allied-healthcare-groupahzahz-coridon.html
  • 「スゴイぞCoridon!HSV完治ワクチン?」http://houseofherpesians.blogspot.jp/2011/10/coridonhsv.htm
  • 「Coridon ついに発つ!」
    http://houseofherpesians.blogspot.jp/2011/10/coridon.html

という記事で取りあげてきました。

今回見つけた記事は、同教授を中心とした医療系ベンチャー企業(多分…(-_-;))、「CoridonのHSVワクチンがPhase 1の治験を始めた」というものです。

特に目新しい内容は無いのですが…、この記事の最後の部分に「おっ!」と思う部分がありました。

その部分は…、
Even if trials succeed a commercial vaccine would be 6–10 years away, but Frazer and Finlayson have bigger plans. "The technology we have come up with could make vaccines for other viral diseases in virtually the same way," says Finlayson. “We would have to look at each disease and select one or more proteins from a particular virus and apply the technology to develop a vaccine that primes both arms of the immune system. We think it could be applicable to any virus."
という箇所でして、 要約すると…、

  • 商用化されるまでは、6‐10年が必要
  • 今回のワクチン開発で用いている技術は、他のウィルス系の病気に対するワクチン開発にも応用できると期待される
ということが記載されているようです。

オーストラリア政府もこの研究にはかなり注目しているようで、その背景には、

  「抗ウィルス薬で世界を制す!」

と考えているオーストラリア政府の意向も垣間見えると感じませんか?

ちなみに、この研究リーダーのFrazer教授ですが、あの、子宮頸がんを誘発するヒトパピローマウイルス(HPV)に対抗するための抗ウィルス剤を作成したことで、世界的に有名な方のようです!(私も、今日調べて分かりました…^^;)これらの研究の積み重ねが、今後のHSVワクチンを開発する基盤となっているのですね…。


Herpes Vaccine Trials Begin

By Stephen Luntz

Phase 1 trials are underway for a vaccine against the HSV-2 virus responsible for genital herpes.

An estimated 500 million people have HSV-2 infections. While many never experience an outbreak of the genital sores, they may still be infectious. For others “the virus causes pain and discomfort, and can have serious health implications for babies born to infected women,” says Prof Ian Frazer, who is leading research into the vaccine at the Diamantina Institute. Moreover, genital sores greatly increase the chance of HIV transmission.

Coridon, the company developing the vaccine, will inject 20 healthy individuals to test its safety and establish the dose required to generate a strong immune response. “Based on that we will know if we can move to the next stage or if we need to tweak the vaccine and test again,” says Coridon CEO Neil Finlayson.

The vaccine works by introducing a small section of DNA that uses the body’s cells to produce a protein that primes the immune system against HSV, both by causing the production of antibodies and by generating a cell-mediated response.

“Herpes infection can stay dormant in the spinal cord and sit in a latent stage in the ganglion, returning when the body is under stress,” Finlayson says. “Antibodies can protect against viral infection, but when someone is already infected you need a cell-mediated response where T-cells recognise the body’s own cells as infected and mount a response to clean up the virus.”

Finlayson says it is hoped the vaccine will prime the cell-mediated response to the point where, when an infection occurs, the body immediately fights it and sores do not form. However, he says that “the vaccine needs to be tested for both new infections and treatment”.

There are enough similarities in the surface proteins for HSV-1 and HSV-2 that Finlayson says there is a possibility the vaccine will also be useful against oral herpes or “cold sores”.

Even if trials succeed a commercial vaccine would be 6–10 years away, but Frazer and Finlayson have bigger plans. “The technology we have come up with could make vaccines for other viral diseases in virtually the same way,” says Finlayson. “We would have to look at each disease and select one or more proteins from a particular virus and apply the technology to develop a vaccine that primes both arms of the immune system. We think it could be applicable to any virus.”

http://www.australasianscience.com.au/article/issue-october-2013/herpes-vaccine-trials-begin.html

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