New Intranasal Vaccine Model May Fight Chlamydia

In December, NanoBio announced baseline data from a mouse study that looks at nanoemulsion adjuvanted vaccines to prevent chlamydia. NanoBio's approach is the nanoemulsion adjuvant teamed with antigens. It's a delivery model and it has shown to elicit mucosal and systemic immunity.

"Based on many years of research focused on chlamydia transmission and prevention, our findings indicate that the use of mucosal vaccination provides the best hope for the development of a vaccine to protect against chlamydia," stated Dr. Kenneth Beagley, Professor of Immunology at QUT. "The initial study with NanoBio demonstrated exciting results from an intranasal NE vaccine incorporating a generic chlamydia protein. With these results in hand, we are now beginning to test additional chlamydia antigens combined with the intranasal NE adjuvant in mice and larger animal models."

It's early stage pre-clinical work but still very promising because it doesn't just create immunity within the body, but rather it blocks on the mucosal surface-mucosal surfaces such as nasal passages and vaginal areas. Thus, there's significant potential for STDs that are transmitted via mucosal pathways.�
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The study was conducted by leading chlamydia vaccine researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia led by Dr. Kenneth Beagley, Professor of Immunology.
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This is timely because chlamydia has been getting a lot of attention lately, including the November 17th�CDC announcement of its�2014 STD Surveillance data noting a rise in chlamydia infections. To be fair, it is relatively safe to assume that screening is becoming more prevalent and therefore diagnosed. Chlamydia itself is often asymptomatic but can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease in women causing infertility, ectopic pregnancy and pelvic pain. It also increased the likelihood of HIV infection.�

NanoBio Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing intranasal and intramuscular vaccines, today announced that its intranasal nanoemulsion (NE) adjuvanted chlamydia vaccine has demonstrated efficacy in a traditional mouse challenge model. The study was conducted by leading chlamydia vaccine researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia led by Dr. Kenneth Beagley, Professor of Immunology.

Chlamydia is one of the most commonly reported sexually transmitted diseases in the United States and globally. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 2.86 million infections occur annually.

Often referred to as a "silent" infection, estimates suggest 90 percent of women with chlamydia have no symptoms and therefore do not seek treatment. If untreated, a significant percentage of women develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) that can lead to lifelong complications including infertility, ectopic pregnancies and chronic pelvic pain. Untreated chlamydia also increases the likelihood of acquiring or transmitting HIV. Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent the spread of chlamydia.

In the pre-clinical study conducted at QUT, mice received three administrations of an intranasal NE vaccine and were then subsequently challenged intra-vaginally with chlamydia. The study's principal endpoint measured oviduct pathology as an indicator of PID. 100 percent of mice receiving no treatment developed oviduct pathology in the study versus just 20 percent of mice receiving the NE vaccine (p
"The results of the chlamydia study further validate the opportunity for intranasal NE vaccines to play a key role in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases," said David Peralta, Chief Executive Officer of NanoBio. "We have now observed positive results in animal studies for three STDs -- genital herpes, HIV and chlamydia. Our research has demonstrated the critical importance of eliciting both mucosal and systemic immunity to protect against some of the most concerning pathogens that enter the body across mucosal surfaces."