Innovative biotech company Noxopharm Limited (ASX:NOX) has received new data that shows its SOF-VAC mRNA vaccine enhancer significantly reduces inflammation driven by mRNA in an animal model.
SOF-VAC is a proprietary asset designed to be combined with mRNA vaccines to reduce inflammatory responses. It works by blocking specific inflammation receptors and is fully compatible with existing mRNA vaccine delivery systems.
Results show a highly significant reduction in the mRNA-driven inflammation response in studies recently conducted by Noxopharm and its strategic partner, the Hudson Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne.
In an animal study, inflammation was reduced by around 50% (see appendix for detailed data) when comparing the inflammation induced by mRNA alone to mRNA plus SOF-VAC. This is an important finding, as many side effects of mRNA vaccines are due to inflammation.
Compounded average percentage shows a highly significant decrease in levels of nine inflammatory biomarkers (p<0.001) detected in the blood of mice six hours post-injection with mRNA alone or mRNA co-packaged with SOF-VAC.
The ability of SOF-VAC to reduce the inflammatory side effects of mRNA has several potential benefits, such as:
- Enabling mRNA vaccines to be given with higher doses – creating longer-lasting protection and a decrease in the frequency of booster shots required.
- Supporting the combination of mRNA vaccines (or other types of RNA vaccines) for different diseases into one syringe.
- Supporting future mRNA (or other RNA) drugs that require high and repeated doses to help treat a variety of diseases.
During the studies, SOF-VAC was combined with mRNA in a way that did not affect the function of the mRNA, which is important to ensure the effectiveness of vaccines.
Noxopharm has now largely concluded its planned development work on SOF-VAC, and is actively seeking a commercial partner to take the asset forward to the next stages of its development.
The company has also recently filed a substantial Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application, which is an essential part of the process of securing robust IP protection in several countries simultaneously.
At a wider level, there is growing awareness of the importance of reducing inflammation in the context of mRNA vaccines, as evidenced by the recent awarding of the Nobel Prize in Medicine to pioneering work in this field that led to the development of the COVID vaccines. This recognition illustrates how critical and relevant the suppression of inflammation is, and all further development of mRNA vaccines and drugs needs to address this issue.
According to Precedence Research, the mRNA market in 2022 was US$40 billion, and is expected to grow to US$137 billion by 2032 at a compound annual growth rate of 13%.
Our results are a significant milestone in the development of SOF-VAC. They show that it works in reducing inflammation, which should translate into fewer side effects from mRNA vaccines. This is of major importance as vaccines are given to populations that are essentially healthy, and who do not want to be negatively affected by a preventative vaccine administration,” Noxopharm CEO, Dr Gisela Mautner, said.
“We have now taken SOF-VAC to the point where we consider the data is strong enough for it to be of interest to other companies, and so are stepping up our efforts to find the right partner to continue its clinical development. This includes presentations at targeted international conferences, as well as other activities.”
