Summary
ArkVax is a company developing vaccine candidates against infections in animals caused by bacteria. The vaccines being developed rely on the fact that most disease-causing bacteria are coated in complex sugar structures, often called capsules, which human vaccinology have demonstrated, can be excellent vaccine components to help train the host immune system. However, to do this in a cost-effective manner, essential in livestock vaccinology, ArkVax has taken an approach to genetically program safe bacterial cells to make the vaccine inside of themselves. ArkVax’s lead candidate vaccine targets a bacterium called Streptococcus suis. This bacterium is capable of causing severe disease in pigs but also in those humans in come into close contact with these animals or consume raw meat products. This especially true in countries such as Vietnam where S. suis is a major cause of community acquired meningitis. The next step in this vaccine development, is to demonstrate that it can be scaled. This collaboration will enable ArkVax to work alongside the team at the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) to test various growth conditions to ensure the maximum amount of vaccine can be generated. The target is to identify the best conditions to grow ArkVax’s vaccine strain and provide important information regarding how many vaccine doses could be produced by a manufacturer.
Dr Jon Cuccui
CEO
ArkVax Limited
UK
Collaborators:
Mr Jonathan Jones, Manager - Microbial Upstream, Centre for Process Innovation, UK