Paragon Bioservices to Develop HIV Vaccine Candidate

Paragon Bioservices, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with a focus pn the development and manufacture of biopharmaceuticals, has been awarded a contract by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) for the process development, analytical development, and cGMP manufacture of an HIV vaccine candidate that will undergo animal and clinical testing.

In findings reported in June, researchers showed that an experimental vaccine candidate could stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies that, if further matured, could potentially block HIV infection in mice.

The candidate’s eOD-GT8 60mer immunogen is a protein nanoparticle designed to mimic a critical part of the HIV envelope protein and to bind and activate B cells to produce antibodies capable of fighting HIV.

The researchers showed that immunization of mice with eOD-GT8 60mer produced antibody precursors with some of the traits necessary to recognize and block HIV infection, suggesting that the eOD-GT8 60mer could be a promising first step in a series of immunizations against HIV.

IAVI has selected Paragon to optimize production of the eOD-GT8 60mer, characterize, and then manufacture it under cGMP conditions. The product candidate’s safety and toxicity will first be tested in animals, and then will subsequently be tested in Phase I clinical trials.

Source: Paragon BioServices