Public Health England enters R&D partnership with Enesi Pharma
UK governmental agency Public Health England ( PHE) has entered into a research and development partnership with UK-based pharmaceutical company Enesi Pharma.
Under the agreement, the pair will focus on developing a novel solid-dose formulation of several of PHE’s proprietary vaccine candidates for delivery through Enesi’s ImplaVax needle-free technology.
Pre-clinical testing has shown that the ImplaVax technology has reduced the time to achieve threshold immunity against comparative conventional liquid vaccines injected using a needle and syringe.
Enesi’s evidence suggests that more people could be vaccinated quicker from a fixed available production volume, thereby saving lives and money.
“We are extremely encouraged by the positive responses we are seeing from institutions and companies to the potential advantages of our ImplaVax solid-dose vaccine platform across the spectrum of infectious diseases and allergies,” commented David Hipkins, CEO of Enesi.
He added that the new collaboration with PHE will present the pharmaceutical company with the opportunity to apply its technology to serious biological threats.
“PHE has access to world-leading scientific expertise and resources in this area, and we are excited to be working with them on this project to provide further validation of our innovative approach,” explained Hipkins.
According to Enesi, many vaccines require multiple doses. However, the company said that ImplaVax-enabled vaccines have the potential to enhance vaccination programmes for at-risk patients. The technology may also present a therapy option for individuals who are exposed to the target infectious disease.
“The threat of emerging infections is an important public health consideration and we are intrigued by the potential for improvements that Enesi’s ImplaVax technology could bring to the vaccination process,” said Miles Carroll, head of research and deputy director at PHE.
He said that these improvements could simplify and accelerate the vaccination process and provide rapid methods of treating exposed individuals.
“We are very much looking forward to working with Enesi to develop and evaluate a range of solid-dose vaccines,” he added.
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