Imperial Innovations Group licenses Meningitis B vaccine
The new vaccine candidate is based on the work of Professor Christoph Tang’s research group at Imperial College London and collaborator Professor Susan Lea at Oxford University. The candidate is currently in the preclinical stage of development. Under the agreement, Novartis will fund a £1m research and development programme over two years at Imperial College London, Oxford University and the Health Protection Agency, aimed at further validation of the candidate in preclinical models.
Vaccines are already commercially available against the Meningitis A and C strains. However, the Meningitis B strain of the bacterium is not addressed by current vaccines and presents a significant disease burden – it accounts for around 90% of cases of the disease in the UK, with around 150 deaths annually. This novel vaccine candidate has the potential to produce an enhanced immune response, which may confer greater protection against the disease than existing candidates currently in development.
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Topic world Diagnostics
Diagnostics is at the heart of modern medicine and forms a crucial interface between research and patient care in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. It not only enables early detection and monitoring of disease, but also plays a central role in individualized medicine by enabling targeted therapies based on an individual's genetic and molecular signature.
Topic world Diagnostics
Diagnostics is at the heart of modern medicine and forms a crucial interface between research and patient care in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. It not only enables early detection and monitoring of disease, but also plays a central role in individualized medicine by enabling targeted therapies based on an individual's genetic and molecular signature.