Alphavirus replicon particles as immunological adjuvants
AssigneeAlphaVax, Inc.
InventorsJonathan F. Smith, Bolyn Hubby, Peter Berglund, Laura Copp, Whitney Ellis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The immune response to an antigen of interest, either in purified form or expressed via an alphavirus replicon particle, can be enhanced by the simultaneous administration of an alphavirus replicon particle which expresses interleukin-12. This allows for the use of significantly smaller quantities of the antigen and this immunization strategy can also eliminate the need for boosting administration of the antigen or it can reduce the number of boosts required for an effective immune response to the antigen.
Claims17
A method of enhancing an immune response to an antigen administered to a subject comprising administering to the subject a dose of an antigen and further or simultaneously administering alphavirus replicon particles expressing IL-12, wherein the alphavirus replicon particles are Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus replicon particles.
A method of reducing the risk of contracting a disease or reducing the severity of a disease in a subject comprising administering (a) an antigen selected from the microorganism or virus that causes the disease, and (b) alphavirus replicon particles expressing IL-12, wherein the alphavirus replicon particles are Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus replicon particles.
A vaccine composition comprising (a) an antigen preparation selected from the group consisting of a protein, glycoprotein, lipoprotein, the expression product of a minigene which product comprises a linear string of epitopes of interest, a linear string of epitopes of a virus hemagglutinin, a linear string of epitopes from an influenza virus hemagglutinin, a toxin, attenuated toxin, inactivated toxin, virus, attenuated virus, inactivated virus, bacterial cells or portion(s) thereof, inactivated bacteria, attenuated bacteria, fungal cells or portion(s) thereof, attenuated fungus, inactivated fungus, parasite or portion(s) thereof, inactivated parasite, attenuated parasite, protozoan or portion(s) thereof, inactivated protozoan or portions thereof, attenuated protozoan, DNA capable of expressing an antigen or fragments or epitopes thereof, pox virus vectored immunogen, alphavirus-vectored or an adenovirus-vectored immunogen, tumor cell antigen or tissue or portion thereof, polysaccharide, lipopolysaccharide, lipooligosaccharide or other material capable of eliciting an immune response in a human or animal to which it is administered;
- and (b) alphavirus replicon particles which express interleukin-12, wherein the alphavirus replicon particles are Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus replicon particles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.