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Frontier IP notes Lassa fever vaccine progress by portfolio company TVG

Published: 02:38 05 Dec 2022 EST

vaccine

Frontier IP Group PLC (AIM:FIPP, OTC:FGPPF) has noted the completion of a project to develop a transmissible vaccine for use in the rats that spread Lassa fever by portfolio company The Vaccine Group’s (TVG).

A small-scale trial of a candidate vaccine in controlled conditions showed the vaccine can be transmitted between rats, significantly improve their immunity to the disease and reduce its spread between them, TVG said in a statement.

US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) helped fund the project, which was led by the University of California, Davis.

Neil Crabb, Frontier IP’s chief executive, said: "The success of this project provides strong vindication for TVG's herpesvirus-based vaccine technology.

“Transmissible vaccines have the potential to tackle a range of zoonotic threats emerging in wild animal reservoirs, and we are looking forward to seeing further progress on Lassa fever."

TVG is developing vaccines based on safe forms of cytomegaloviruses (CMV), members of the herpesvirus family.

The Lassa fever project identified and isolated a strain of CMV unique to the rats for use as a vaccine vector. 

Jeremy Salt, TVG's chief executive, added: "This is a highly successful project that has delivered a range of tools that can be taken forward as part of a control programme for Lassa fever in West Africa."

Lassa fever is present in eight West African countries with between an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 cases of disease each year, of which about 5,000 are fatal.

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