INDIANAPOLIS — BioCrossroads’ Indiana Seed Fund has invested in Bioscience Vaccines Inc. to accelerate the development of biologic materials, which may boost the effectiveness of a wide range of life-saving vaccines.
Bioscience Vaccines is developing and studying a novel technology for the development of vaccine supplements (adjuvants) that will hopefully increase the effectiveness of vaccines against illness caused by infectious diseases and epidemics – a hot topic and active area of investment this past year in the wake of the H1N1 influenza epidemic.
BioCrossroads’ Indiana Seed Fund I, Indiana’s only targeted life sciences seed stage investment fund, is investing $400,000 to accelerate the company’s product development and complete required studies to prepare the product for a Phase I human clinical trial. BioCrossroads’ seed investment will also provide funds to begin studies for additional vaccine products for applications in cancer prevention.
Bioscience Vaccines’ adjuvant product is based upon Cook Biotech’s proprietary extracellular matrix technology that has been exclusively licensed to Bioscience Vaccines. Cook Biotech has developed numerous ECM products cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and used for the repair of soft tissue in more than a million patient procedures. ECM is a complex material that helps the human body repair itself by attracting new cells and facilitating growth and tissue regeneration.
"Cook’s ECM technology represents a breakthrough for tissue regeneration. Through continued research, Cook Biotech discovered a special formulation of the ECM technology can be used for other life?saving purposes, such as whole cell vaccines," said David Johnson, president and CEO of BioCrossroads.
Bioscience Vaccines has data showing that, when used as a vaccine additive, ECM can boost the potency of tetanus vaccine by 10 to 15 times in laboratory models.
Bioscience has negotiated an advanced development agreement to be in an early stage clinical trial by the end of this year. Working in collaboration with Dr. Mark Suckow at the University of Notre Dame, the company has also studied ECM as a whole-cell vaccine adjuvant to prevent and treat prostate cancer in pre?clinical research.
"While a pathogen protein approach makes vaccines purer, safer and quicker to produce, it also increases the need for adjuvants to ensure efficacy. We believe that our ECM-based product can be formulated for use with vaccine products already being used for the prevention of specific human diseases. There is also potential for the product to be used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the prevention of animal diseases," said Suckow, a founding scientist of Bioscience Vaccines and an associate research professor in the department of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame.
The company is in discussions to locate its headquarters in South Bend, Ind.
