RCS - Frontier IP Group - TVG - milestone in development of COVID-19 vaccine

Frontier IPAnnouncement

29/11/2021 07:00

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RNS Number : 7929T  Frontier IP Group plc  29 November 2021

Reach - a non-regulatory announcement

AIM: FIPP

29 November 2021

 

Frontier IP Group Plc

("Frontier IP" or the "Group")

 

 

Portfolio news - The Vaccine Group announces significant milestone in
development of next generation COVID-19 vaccine

 

 

 

Frontier IP, a specialist in commercialising intellectual property, notes the
following announcement that portfolio company The Vaccine Group ("TVG" or the
"Company") has achieved a significant milestone in the development of its next
generation COVID-19 vaccine for use in humans. Frontier IP holds a 17 per cent
equity stake in the Company.

 

Neil Crabb, Frontier IP Chief Executive Officer, said: "The first generation
of COVID-19 vaccines have had a fantastic impact. However, COVID-19 is not
going to disappear, so there is a need for a new generation of vaccines. There
is a growing body of evidence to show that stimulating a T cell response
confers longer-lasting immunity than other approaches and also offers the
potential to provide protection against current and future variants of the
disease."

 

Jeremy Salt, Chief Executive of The Vaccine Group, said: "These very strong
trial results show that a COVID-19 vaccine based on our novel herpesvirus
platform could prove to be extremely effective in mitigating the long-term
impact of the disease.  We are clearly excited about the potential for the
vaccine."

 

Simon Graham, Group Leader at The Pirbright Institute, said: "Given the
emerging data that strongly suggest an important role for cellular immunity in
controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection, these are particularly promising results."

 

 

The Vaccine Group statement begins:

 

The Vaccine Group announces significant milestone in development of next
generation

COVID-19 vaccine

·    Trial data show strong T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2, as well as the
more divergent SARS-CoV-1, demonstrating potential for broad immunity against
current and future variants of the causal agent of COVID-19

·    Vaccination is not blunted by pre-existing immunity against the
vaccine platform allowing for repeated use as a 'booster' after initial
vaccination

 

The Vaccine Group ("TVG" or the "Company") today announces the results of
pre-clinical trials in pigs for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate for use in
humans based on its novel herpesvirus-based vaccine platform technology.

The results show that a strong T cell response is stimulated by a single
immunisation, which is further boosted by a subsequent immunisation with the
identical vaccine after a four-week interval. The trials were run in
collaboration with The Pirbright Institute, England.

Laboratory analysis of immune responses to the vaccine confirmed T cell
responses in all animals. Further analysis showed both SARS-CoV-2-specific
gamma interferon producing CD4(+ )helper T cells and CD8(+ )cytotoxic T cells
(CTLs) against SARS-CoV-2 were induced.

The vaccine has been developed to direct T cell immune responses against three
SARS-CoV-2 proteins. The potential for such a T cell-focused vaccine approach
has been highlighted following recent reports of substantial T cell-based
immune memory in SARS-CoV-2 convalescent patients* and a correlation of
immunological control with the prevalence of CTLs**.

CTLs are an important part of the body's defence system because they destroy
cells infected by the virus. This means they remove infected cells swiftly,
before the virus can replicate. Most vaccines either on the market or under
development are aimed at attacking the virus directly once it has already
replicated and been released from the infected cell by stimulating an antibody
response against the spike protein on the surface of the virus. However,
antibodies are more sensitive to evasion by virus mutation.

In vitro stimulation of lymphocytes isolated from peripheral blood samples
after vaccination showed reactivity against peptides from both SARS-CoV-2, the
causal agent of the COVID-19 pandemic, and also the SARS-CoV-1 virus isolated
from the 2003 SARS outbreak.

These data underline the ability of this vaccine to stimulate broad
coronavirus immune responses which would be expected to be beneficial in
controlling infection with current circulating SARS-CoV-2 viruses (e.g.,
Delta) as well as future variants of the virus.

Pathogen targets of T cell-based immunity are known to vary less than antibody
targets, therefore this result is in line with this vaccine strategy.

Following early discussions with the UK's MHRA, TVG is seeking immediate
funding to move the vaccine candidate to a full Proof-of-Concept stage before
Phase I trials in humans can be undertaken.

The vaccine candidate is based upon TVG's herpesvirus vector system, which
allows for repeated reimmunization and booster doses to be used without
decreasing efficacy.

Jeremy Salt, Chief Executive of The Vaccine Group, said: "These very strong
trial results show that a COVID-19 vaccine based on our novel herpesvirus
platform could prove to be extremely effective in mitigating the long-term
impact of the disease.  We are clearly excited about the potential for the
vaccine."

Simon Graham, Group Leader at The Pirbright Institute, said: "Given the
emerging data that strongly suggest an important role for cellular immunity in
controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection, these are particularly promising results."

 

* Le Bert,et al 2020 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2550-z;

* Grifoni et al, 2020
https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0092-8674%2820%2930610-3

** Swadling, L., Diniz, M.O., Schmidt, N.M. et al. Pre-existing
polymerase-specific T cells expand in abortive seronegative
SARS-CoV-2. Nature (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04186-8
(https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04186-8)

** Luo et al. 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32544099/

 

The Vaccine Group statement ends

 

ENQUIRIES

 

 

 Frontier IP Group Plc                                                      T: 020 7332 2338
 Neil Crabb, Chief Executive Officer                                        neil@frontierip.co.uk

 Andrew Johnson, Communications and investor relations                      M: 07464 546 025

 andrew.johnson@frontierip.co.uk (mailto:andrew.johnson@frontierip.co.uk)

 Company website: www.frontierip.co.uk (http://www.frontierip.co.uk/)
 The Vaccine Group

 Jeremy Salt, Chief Executive Officer                                       jeremy.salt@thevaccinegroup.com

 Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser)                                T: 0203 328 5656

 Nick Athanas / George Payne

About T cells and SARS-CoV-2

The structural proteins spike (S), membrane protein (M) and nucleocapsid
(N) are core building blocks of coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-1 and
SARS-CoV-2.

·    Spike (S) protein, is on the surface of the virus and is responsible
for the distinctive crown-like structure. S protein is required for infection
of a cell by binding to the ACE2 receptor on the cell surface.

·    Membrane (M) protein, which spans the membrane of the virus, plays a
major role in assembly of the virus particle.

·    Nucleocapsid (N) protein, is found inside the virus and has many
functions from helping copy and package the genetic information of the virus
through to also being involved in virion assembly.

 

The body's active defence when attacked by a pathogen, such as the SARS-CoV-2
virus, is governed by two types of adaptive immune response (cell-mediated and
antibody-mediated) through two white blood cell lineages: the
mononuclear/macrophages and lymphocytes (both B and T cells).

Lymphocytes circulate in the body until they are activated by contact with a
specific piece of protein of a pathogen, which is called an antigen. They bind
the antigen (in this case from SARS-CoV-2) presented by mononuclear/monocytes
acting as antigen presenting cells via their surface proteins.  In the case
of B cells this is antibody.

The antigen presenting cell internalises the virus and then expresses short
peptide sequences of the viral proteins through a molecule called MHC Class
II. A helper CD4+ T cell then binds on to the MHC Class II molecule, which
triggers the transformation of the B cell into plasma cells and memory B
cells.

Plasma cells mass manufacture antibodies to the virus, which then circulate in
the blood and tissues. However, these antibodies are tailor made to combat
very specific regions present in the original infecting virus.  In the case
of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, this is most usually against targets on the Spike
protein. This means the antibodies might not be effective against a
coronavirus with a mutated spike protein. And because Spike proteins are the
main contact point between a coronavirus and cells in the body, mutations in
this region can have a significant impact on efficiency of cellular entry.

Memory B cells are a reserve: they remember the virus and so can respond
quickly if the body is reinfected.

Most Covid-19 vaccines either on the market currently or under development aim
to stimulate a B cell-derived serum antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 virus
through inclusion of only the Spike proteins itself or its gene.

CD8+ cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) attack infected cells directly, rather than the
free virus. When a cell is infected, the virus starts to replicate by
producing its proteins including nucleocapsid (N), membrane (M) and spike
proteins (S). The infected cells express peptides, short sequences of the
proteins, on their surface via a molecule called MHC Class I.

The CTL recognises infected cells because of the presence of the MHC Class I
molecule presenting viral peptides. It binds on to the infected cell and kills
it before the virus can be released. Importantly, for SARS-CoV-2, T cells
target all of the three proteins N, M and S.  The generation of the immediate
effector T cells are accompanied by the production of long-lived memory T
cells.

The T cell targets on nucleocapsid and membrane proteins mutate much more
slowly than the Spike protein antibody targets, and they are more similar
between SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 viruses.

This gives rise to the expectation that a vaccine stimulating a T cell
response to both viruses will be in a strong position to combat any variants
of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

 

ABOUT THE VACCINE GROUP

The Vaccine Group, a spin out from the University of Plymouth, is developing
vaccines based on benign forms of herpesviruses. These are a group of viruses
found in all animals, including humans.

The Company is targeting two main areas: zoonotic diseases, which jump from
animals to humans, and economically damaging diseases in livestock. The
COVID-19 vaccine is the first of the company's vaccines being developed for
humans.

The Company and its international partners have so far been backed by more
than £9 million in grant funding from the US, UK and Chinese
governments. The US government is funding development of Ebola and Lassa
fever virus vaccines. The company has also signed its first commercial
agreement to develop vaccines for Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Virus
Syndrome with ECO Animal Health Group plc.

Other projects underway include developing a vaccine against Streptococcus
suis, a disease in pigs which can be fatal in humans and can only currently
be treated with large doses of antibiotics.

For more information: www.thevaccinegroup.com (http://www.thevaccinegroup.com)
 

ABOUT THE PIRBRIGHT INSTITUTE

The Pirbright Institute is a world leading centre of excellence in research
and surveillance of virus diseases of farm animals and viruses that spread
from animals to humans. Based in the UK and receiving strategic funding from
the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC
(https://bbsrc.ukri.org/) ) part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the
Institute works to enhance capability to contain, control and eliminate these
economically and medically important diseases through highly innovative
fundamental and applied bioscience.

The Institute is an independent company, limited by guarantee and a registered
charity, governed by a Board of non-executive Trustee Directors.

With an annual income of £37 million from grants and commercial activity, and
a total of £43.7 million strategic investment from BBSRC UKRI during
2021-2022, the Institute contributes to global food security and health,
improving quality of life for animals and people.

For more information about The Pirbright Institute see: www.pirbright.ac.uk
(https://www.pirbright.ac.uk/)

ABOUT FRONTIER IP

Frontier IP unites science and commerce by identifying strong intellectual
property and accelerating its development through a range of commercialisation
services. A critical part of the Group's work is involving relevant industry
partners at an early stage of development to ensure technology meets real
world demands and needs.

The Group looks to build and grow a portfolio of equity stakes and licence
income by taking an active involvement in spin-out companies, including
support for fund raising and collaboration with relevant industry partners at
an early stage of development.

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