A biopharmaceutical company working with Hawaiian scientists to develop the Ebola vaccine today announced encouraging news about the vaccine.

Vaccine testing, which is still under development, shows that its effectiveness can be maintained without refrigeration. This is a real advantage when you talk about many of Africa's rural areas with the highest risk of Ebola.

"Our recent work with soligenix, Inc. at the University of Colorado shows that we can dry and stabilize the key antigens of the Ebola vaccine, so it can basically be stored at room or high temperature - you can almost put it in the sun - and it can be stable for up to three months," said assistant of Department of Tropical Medicine, medical microbiology and pharmacology, University of maniya, Hawaii Axel Lehrer, Ph.D., Professor of science, said that JABSOM

The announcement was announced by soligenix, Inc. (otcqb: sngx) (soligenix or the company), a late stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of products for the treatment of rare diseases that do not meet medical needs. The company is working with the University of Hawaii Manoa and Hawaiian Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (HBI) to develop a heat stable subunit of Ebola vaccine.

Soligenix said research with Dr. Theodore Randolph of the University of Colorado on thermally stable preparations also showed that the use of thermally stable preparations can reduce the number of vaccinations and achieve full immunity.

"None of the other Ebola vaccines being developed is capable of withstanding high temperatures, which has been a concern in the world where filovirus is prevalent," Dr. Lehrer said "The ability to stabilize our candidate vaccines to maintain immunogenicity may affect not only logistics, but also more people in need. A vaccine that requires less time increases the likelihood that more people will receive enough doses of the vaccine to prevent disease. "

"We are very encouraged by these preliminary results and hope that we will continue to work with soligenix and HBI to further develop our Ebola and multivalent filovirus vaccines," Dr. Lehrer said

About Ebola virus

Ebola virus disease (EVD) is caused by one of five Ebola viruses, four of which cause human diseases, including its most famous member, Zaire Ebola virus (Ebola virus). All species of Ebola virus belong to Filoviridae family, which further contains Marburg virus with human pathogenicity. Although the exact source of the host remains unclear, Ebola is believed to be present in a variety of animals in Africa. Several known EVD outbreaks have occurred in Africa since 1976, the most recent and largest since 2014 in West Africa.

Ebola virus disease (EVD) is caused by one of five Ebola viruses, four of which cause human diseases, including its most famous member, Zaire Ebola virus (Ebola virus). All species of Ebola virus belong to Filoviridae family, which further contains Marburg virus with human pathogenicity. Although the exact source of the host remains unclear, Ebola is believed to be present in a variety of animals in Africa. Several known EVD outbreaks have occurred in Africa since 1976, the most recent and largest since 2014 in West Africa.

According to the data of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Ebola epidemic in 2014 was mainly distributed in three West African countries, involving 28000 confirmed / possible / suspected cases, with an estimated death toll of more than 11000. And the United States. The spread of the infection and its devastating effects further illustrate the need to develop an Ebola vaccine to prevent future and possibly even more serious outbreaks.

Thermovax ® is a technology designed to eliminate the standard cold chain production, distribution, and storage logistics required for most vaccines. Cold chain requirements increase the production and storage costs of current conventional vaccines. According to the 2010 biopharmaceutical cold chain information manual, more than 90% of all vaccines (with a total value of US $20.6 billion) need to be transported through the cold chain. Eliminating cold chains can also enhance the utility of these vaccines in emerging markets and other applications that need but lack reliable cold chain capabilities. In addition, the World Health Organization (who) reports that up to 50% of all vaccines worldwide are wasted, in part because For excursions beyond the required temperature range, NIAID also emphasizes the technical priority of biological defense vaccine, which focuses on broad-spectrum methods, including vaccine adjuvant and temperature stabilization to extend the shelf life, rapid onset of immunity and surge capacity of production. For vaccines intended for long-term storage, such as those used for biological defense or pandemic situations, the use of thermovax is likely to facilitate easier storage and distribution of national strategic stockpiles in emergencies.

This technology uses the combination of conventional aluminum adjuvant and secondary adjuvant to freeze-dried protein immunogen accurately, so as to start protective immunity quickly with the least vaccination. Rivax's liquid form is extremely unstable and requires careful management in cold storage at 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit). By using thermovax in the final formulation, stable, effective vaccines can be produced that can withstand temperatures of at least 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to a year.

Basic technology has been developed by Dr. Dr. development. John Carpenter and Theodore Randolph of the University of Colorado. To date, the vaccine technology has been developed in collaboration with Sri international, the University of Kansas, the Wadsworth center of the New York State Department of health, and the Tulane National Primate Research Center, with funding from NIAID.