Our Technology
DeepVax was founded in 2018 with the aim of developing a range of therapeutic cancer vaccines and treatments.
Virus Like Particles
Our platform is based on virus-like particles, we use virally shaped nanoparticles as a scaffold for the generation of tailor-made therapeutic cancer vaccines and treatments. Virus-like particles are safe and non-infecious as they lack any genetic materials.
The nanoparticle base of the vaccines tricks the immune system into believing to be under viral attack, causing a strong immune response against the displayed antigen. Virus-like particles have been successfully developed as powerful and attractive vaccines against infections, chronic diseases and cancer.
Several prophylactic VLP-based vaccines preventing human papilloma virus (HPV) are currently on the market such as Cervarix®, Gardasil® and Gardasil9®. Different toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands can be packed into VLPs during the expression process in bacterial host cells. Such ligands can dramatically enhance innate as well as adaptive immune responses and polarize them towards TH1 immunity.
Therapeutic vaccines
Monoclonal antibodies represent a novel yet costly category of disease-modifying drugs. We have innovated a technology centered around immunologically optimized virus-like particles (VLPs). This technology empowers us to elicit antibodies targeting disease-causing endogenous molecules, thereby transitioning from passive antibody vaccination to active vaccination using VLP-based immunogens. This shift offers the significant benefits of substantially reduced production costs and enhanced patient convenience. Leveraging this groundbreaking technology, we aim to dramatically broaden access to disease-modifying treatments for patients and societies with limited financial resources.
Making it personal
Therapeutic personalized cancer vaccines
Tumor mutations identified by integrating whole exome sequencing and mass spectrometry based immunopeptidomics are synthesized and chemically coupled to virus-like particles by different linking techniques. Our virus-like particles package different Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands to enhance the immune response.
We have obtained several proof-of-concept in animal models. Our approach enables future clinical application, whereby personalized synthetic peptides are bound to nanoparticles at the bedside and used for vaccination.
Making it more universal
Making it less personal and more universal
We have developed several immune-enhancers based on formulating virus-like particles with different adjuvants. An example of our favorite adjuvant is microcrystalline tyrosine (MCT).
Microcrystalline tyrosine (MCT) is a biodegradable depot adjuvant developed primarily for use in subcutaneous (SC) allergy immunotherapy, in combination with native allergens or modified allergens (allergoids). MCT forms crystals of natural L-Tyrosine and due to their micron-size they cannot readily enter the lymphatics and remain at the injection site, forming a depot and local inflammation.
Microcrystalline tyrosine (MCT) is a classical adjuvant that has been used in humans for decades in allergy immunotherapy. Different combinations of allergoids with MCT have been on the market for up to 40 years and are safe in millions of people. Furthermore, several products are currently tested in clinical trials.
DeepVax has recently signed an agreement with Allergy Therapeutics LTD. for developing an immune-enhancer against solid tumors: