Glide and Cilian team to develop solid dose flu vaccine
Cilian’s pandemic influenza vaccine, CiFlu, is produced using its DNA technology it claims can reduce production by at least ten weeks compared to conventional egg-based production.
In a deal announced yesterday, the Münster, Germany-based biotech has teamed up with Glide to develop a solid dose formulation of CiFlu to be delivered using the firm’s solid dose injector (SDI).
The device itself is a needle-free technology which administers a solid dose formulation – around 4mm long by 0.8mm wide - into the skin. According to the firm, proof-of-concept studies with a number of vaccines have shown a breadth of utility and potential for a cell-mediated immune response.
“Glide’s formulations have the potential to enhance the immune response to vaccines and are delivered via the patient-friendly, needle-free SDI device,” a spokesman for the Oxford, UK-based drug delivery firm told in-Pharmatechnologist.com.
“In addition, the company’s highly stable solid dose formulations provide room-temperature stability unlike other vaccines that require costly cold-chain distribution and storage.”
Preclinical potency testing to confirm the potential for an enhanced immune response to CiFlu is planned to commence later this year, but the firm says it has already robust room-temperature stability test results for the formulation.
Glide completed a stability study of its technology with Pfenex anthrax vaccine earlier this year, and has since extended its contract with the drugmaker.
The SDI device is manufactured by Nypro, while Glide itself has production capacity for R&D material onsite at its Oxford facilities. In January, the company selected contract manufacturing organisation (CMO) AMRI to produce a solid dose formulations at its facility in Glasgow, Scotland.
