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.
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".