Vaccine Platform Secures Funds Against Mosquito Threats
University of Queensland researchers have developed a 'plug-and-play' vaccine platform called ISVac to combat mosquito-borne diseases. The startup Proboxis Biotechnology has secured $1.5 million in funding to advance the technology toward clinical development.
Why it matters
As climate change expands the range of mosquito-borne illnesses, this technology offers a scalable way to rapidly develop vaccines for emerging threats.
A homegrown vaccine platform demonstrated in animals could soon become a 'plug-and-play' system to rapidly adapt to future mosquito-borne disease threats in humans.
University of Queensland researchers Associate Professor Jody Peters , Dr Henry de Malmanche and Dr Jessica Harrison developed the ISVac(tm) platform, building on more than a decade of work.
Dr Peters said since her team's discovery of a mosquito-specific virus, they've been able to genetically engineer it to generate virus particles that are non-infectious to humans or animals.
"These particles have been used as vaccines against Japanese encephalitis virus in pigs and West Nile virus in crocodiles ," Dr Peters said.
"This next stage is a huge leap forward - developing a potential new tool to protect humans against emerging mosquito-borne diseases."
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