Vaxart, Inc. (NASDAQ: VXRT) today announced the publication of preclinical data demonstrating the potential of its mucosal vaccine technology platform in enabling therapeutic vaccination against HPV-related cervical dysplasia. The data show that Vaxart’s HPV vaccine constructs can stimulate a potent immune response against the HPV16 proteins E6 and E7 that are known to transform healthy cells into malignant cells. The data, reported in the current issue of Vaccines, also shows that administration of a mucosal vaccine against these proteins in mice with HPV-expressing tumors led to reductions in tumor size and increased survival.
Persistent HPV infection plays a causative role in most cases of cervical dysplasia, which leads to cervical cancers if left untreated. While prophylactic HPV vaccines are highly effective if administered prior to infection; they have not demonstrated a therapeutic effect on established infections.
“The preclinical data published in Vaccines demonstrate that our mucosal vaccines stimulate T cells to destroy HPV-expressing cells, reducing the size of HPV-derived tumors and increasing the survival of mice bearing these tumors,” said Dr. Sean Tucker, Vaxart’s Founder and Chief Scientific Officer.
“While additional studies are needed to further characterize the immune stimulating and anti-tumor activity of our HPV-vaccine, these initial findings
suggest that our mucosal vaccine platform could open the door to a non-invasive approach designed to prevent the progression to cervical cancer. As our mucosal vaccine candidates can be administered easily and are stable at room temperature, they also have potential to address global inequities associated with the treatment of HPV-related cancers.”
VXRT shares decreased two cents to 87 cents Wednesday.
