ISRAEL 
HIGH-TECH & INVESTMENT REPORT

from the July 2004 issue


BiondVax Targets Influenza


Prof. Ruth Arnon of Israel's Weitzmann Institute of Science is Israel's foremost female scientist. With Prof, Michael Sela they co-developed a Multiple Sclerosis drug whose sales may reach $1.0 billion in the next year or two. In our interview leading to our report on her work (IHTIR April 2004) she mentioned that her second field of interest lies in the development of a nasal flu vaccine. In a published paper she stated, "our findings demonstrate the potential of a synthetic recombinant vaccine to induce local and systemic immunity, resulting in effective protection against influenza. The vaccine is cross strain specific and of long-term duration".

Yeda Research & Development, the commercialization arm for Weitzmann Institute research, applied for global patent protection. In 2000 the know-how was licensed to a group of entrepreneurs who formed BiondVax. "Our first milestone was to establish that the vaccine was effective on humanized mice. "It was the proof concept which we needed to move ahead." says Ron Babecoff, the company's CEO.

The Influenza Virus "Flu" is an acute respiratory tract infection caused by Influenza viruses that can easily spread via coughing, sneezing or even hand-to-hand contact. During an epidemic, the virus infects 5%-20% of the entire population. Global pandemics occur every 10-15 years due to major antigenic changes in the virus and are independent of season. The 'Spanish Flu' pandemic took the lives of more people during the years 1918-1919 than did the First World War (20 - 40 million people).

Currently available vaccines are based on predictions as to which virus strain will be prevalent in the forthcoming season. Failure to correctly predict the prevalent strains and their unexpected antigenic changes are the main reason for the reduced level of efficacy demonstrated by currently available vaccines. In the US, about 20,000-90,000 people die each year from the flu epidemic, with pulmonary and cardiovascular complications. Over 110,000 people are hospitalized annually due to pulmonary complications alone. The annual economic loss caused by the flu to the US economy alone is estimated at $25.6 billion. Therefore, vaccination against influenza is considered highly cost effective and is one of the diseases targeted for primary prevention by global health organizations.

The BiondVax vaccine is intended to provide multi-strain protection thus multi-season coverage. One vaccination schedule will provide 3 - 5 years protection against the flu. The vaccine is administered intranasally by dripping or spraying. All year vaccination is possible independent of the flu season and according to patient preferences. The new vaccine activates both arms of the human immune system (B- & T-cells) resulting in over 95% protection. The new vaccine has been validated using a humanized mouse model.

The challenge facing the company is to proceed with its development program and to elicit similar results with humans. BiondVax is moving into new quarters at the Ness Ziona Science Based Industries Park, next to the Weizmann Institute of Science. It has also launched a multi-million dollar financing round.


Reprinted from the Israel High-Tech & Investment Report July 2004

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