Our Pipeline: Advancing Oral Vaccines for Major Diseases
iosBio is leveraging its powerful technology platforms to build a pipeline of innovative oral vaccine candidates. Our primary focus is the development of OraPro-EBV, a first-in-class vaccine targeting Epstein-Barr Virus. Additional programmes further validate the broad applicability of our OraPro™, ESD™, and AI design capabilities.
OraPro-EBV: Targeting Epstein-Barr Virus
Our Unique Multi-Layered Approach to Preventing EBV Infection
Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is incredibly common, infecting most people during their lifetime. While often causing mild illness or glandular fever (infectious mononucleosis), it establishes a lifelong presence in the body and is increasingly linked to serious long-term health conditions, including multiple sclerosis and several types of cancer. We are pioneering the development of an innovative vaccine designed not just to fight EBV, but to prevent it from taking hold in the first place using a unique, multi-layered defence strategy.
What Makes Our EBV Vaccine Different? A Double Barrier at Two Critical Stages
Our vaccine is unique because it targets EBV at the two primary cell types it infects – the epithelial cells lining your nose and throat (where infection begins) and the B cells of your immune system (where the virus hides long-term). Crucially, at each of these cell types, our vaccine aims to build a double barrier against the virus:
Blocking Attachment: Think of this as preventing the virus from even latching onto the cell surface. Our vaccine trains your immune system to recognise and block the specific parts of the virus responsible for this initial ‘docking’ manoeuvre. This first line of defence targets EBV on the surface of epithelial cells.
Blocking Entry (Fusion): If some virus particles manage to bypass the first barrier and attach, our vaccine provides a second line of defence. It also trains the immune system to block the next step: the virus merging with the cell membrane to get inside. This prevents viral ‘fusion’ and entry into the epithelial cell.
Reinforcing the Defences for Long-Term Protection
EBV’s strategy involves moving from epithelial cells to infect B cells, where it can remain hidden for life. Our vaccine anticipates this move and applies the exact same double-barrier strategy to protect B cells:
Blocking Attachment to B Cells: We again train the immune system to prevent the virus from docking onto B cell surfaces.
Blocking Entry (Fusion) into B Cells: If attachment occurs, the vaccine’s second component for B cells aims to block the fusion process, preventing the virus from entering and establishing its persistent foothold within your immune system.
Why This Multi-Layered Strategy Matters
By targeting both attachment and entry, at both epithelial and B cell stages, we aim to create a comprehensive defence system. This strategy is designed to prevent the initial infection that causes glandular fever and, more importantly, to stop EBV from establishing the lifelong latency that is linked to later diseases.
Oral Delivery for Targeted Immunity
We are developing this vaccine for oral delivery (taken by mouth). This approach is designed to stimulate a strong immune response directly at the mucosal surfaces (like the throat) where EBV first enters the body (mucosal immunity), while also generating a protective response throughout the rest of the body (systemic immunity).
Beyond Prevention: Potential Therapeutic Applications
While our primary goal is prevention, this targeted approach may also offer potential benefits for individuals already living with latent EBV. By stimulating a tailored immune response against the virus, it could potentially help manage or reduce the risk of EBV-related complications later in life.
In summary, our vaccine candidate employs a distinct, multi-pronged strategy targeting critical viral mechanisms at key cellular locations. We believe this comprehensive approach holds significant promise for preventing initial EBV infection, blocking its lifelong persistence, and ultimately reducing the burden of EBV-associated diseases like multiple sclerosis and specific cancers.