Viropro creates Theravax division to develop therapeutic vaccines for cancer, HIV, hepatitis

By Lisa Kerner

Erie, Pa., May 25 - Viropro Inc. created a new division known as Theravax, Inc. to develop and manufacture therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of cancer or chronic viral infections such as HIV or hepatitis.

Viropro said the first product to be developed by Theravax will be a vaccine for HIV. Clinical studies are slated to begin in Canada in 2007, with marketing of the HIV vaccine to begin in 2010, according to a company news release.

Therapeutic vaccines are designed to stimulate the immune system to help patients fight disease, The use of dendritic cells, which can be prepared ex vivo in a culture medium mixed with viral or cancer antigens, has shown promising results in creating tailor-made vaccines for individual patients. Injections of therapeutic vaccines can then be given on a regular schedule to maintain strong immune protection.

"In cancer, or in chronic viral infections, dendritic cells are often paralyzed and cannot perform their proper function," Viropro president and chief executive officer Jean-Marie Dupuy said in the release.

"This technology is designed to have the dendritic cells perform outside the body the function they cannot achieve in vivo."

Montreal-based Viropro specializes in technology transfer for industrial production of therapeutic proteins.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.