Danish Companies and University Collaborate on MRSA Vaccine

Bavarian Nordic and Evaxion Biotech, Danish biotechnology companies, and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have entered a collaboration for the development of an Modified Vaccinia Ankara - Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN)-based vaccine against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) using Evaxion’s computer-based technology to discover novel antigens. According to a press release from Bavarian Nordic, the same approach could potentially be used to target any other bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics.

Based on efficacy results demonstrated by Evaxion in preclinical models, Bavarian Nordic intends to engineer and produce a MVA-BN-based vaccine candidate, which will be investigated in additional preclinical studies by DTU. If proven safe and efficacious, human trials could occur in 2019.

The project received initial funding from the Innovation Fund Denmark in the amount of Danish Krone (DKK) 17 million (USD 2.5 million), which in part will fund Bavarian Nordic’s production of MVA-BN-based MRSA vaccine candidates.

MRSA is associated with deaths and a high rate of hospitalization. MRSA remains a major challenge in the healthcare sector due to high infection risk during treatment and surgery of patients, in particular those with weak immune systems. There is currently no MRSA vaccine available.

Source: Bavarian Nordic