Enesi Pharma has signed a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the US Department of Defense Laboratory unit Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) to jointly develop a needle-free solid-dose vaccine for the Shigella infection.
The partnership will focus on developing a stable solid-dose formulation of WRAIR’s Shigella flexneri 2a artificial Invaplex (Sfl2a Invaplex) vaccine that can be delivered via Enesi Pharma’s ImplaVax technology.
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Enesi will create the solid-dose formulation using WRAIR’s Sfl2a Invaplex vaccine, while WRAIR will test the solution for biochemical integrity and immunogenicity in Shigella disease models.
Results from the project will be shared with both companies and could be used for future commercial opportunities.
Enesi Pharma CEO David Hipkiss said: “We have made great progress at Enesi Pharma with the development of our ImplaVax needle-free injection platform since the launch of the company in 2017.
“In parallel, we have consulted with vaccine manufacturers, emerging companies and research institutes around the world to enhance our understanding of their needs and to discuss and execute a number of potential collaborations designed to demonstrate the benefits that ImplaVax could deliver for improving human health.”
Shigella is a type of gram-negative, facultative aerobic, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped bacteria, which is genetically closely related to E. coli.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that the Shigella infection is the most communicable form of bacterial diarrhoeal disease and is responsible for around 165 million cases of severe dysentery a year.
It is estimated that more than one million people die from shigellosis each year.
