Modified Sendai virus vaccine and imaging vector (SJ-11-0018)

St. Jude Reference #SJ-11-0018

Description

Researchers at St. Jude have developed a genetically modified Sendai Virus for use as a two-for-one vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV, a cause of serious lung disease in young children) and parainfluenza virus type 1 (hPIV-1, a cause of croup in young children). The vaccine, named SeVRSV, has proven safe and effective [1]. The vaccine vector elicits both B cell and T cell activities [2]. Because the vaccine vector is administered by the intranasal route, it can elicit durable immune responses in the upper respiratory tract to stop a human infection at the pathogen’s site of entry [3]. The vaccine was well-tolerated in an adult clinical study at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, supported by the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health [4]. The SeVRSV backbone (unmodified Sendai Virus) was also tested in clinical trials, and was well tolerated in adults [5], seropositive 3-6 year olds [6], and seropositive 1-2 year olds. Future plans include the testing of both unmodified Sendai virus and SeVRSV in seropositive and then seronegative children, the latter being the pediatric population that is most vulnerable to RSV and hPIV-1 infections. Our two-for-one vaccine, once proven effective in humans, may save tens of thousands of pediatric lives each year worldwide. 

Keywords

Sendai, virus, vaccine, imaging, vector, immunogenic

Granted patents or published applications

Issued US Patent applications 9,637,758; and 10,329,584; and most all of the EU

Related scientific references

B.G. Jones, R.E. Sealy, R. Rudraraju, V.L. Traina-Dorge, B. Finneyfrock, A. Cook, T. Takimoto, A. Portner, J.L. Hurwitz, Sendai virus-based RSV vaccine protects African green monkeys from RSV infection, Vaccine 30(5) (2012) 959-68.

X. Zhan, J.L. Hurwitz, S. Krishnamurthy, T. Takimoto, K. Boyd, R.A. Scroggs, S. Surman, A. Portner, K.S. Slobod, Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) fusion protein expressed by recombinant Sendai virus elicits B-cell and T-cell responses in cotton rats and confers protection against RSV subtypes A and B, Vaccine 25(52) (2007) 8782-93.

R. Rudraraju, S. Surman, B. Jones, R. Sealy, D.L. Woodland, J.L. Hurwitz, Phenotypes and functions of persistent Sendai virus-induced antibody forming cells and CD8+ T cells in diffuse nasal-associated lymphoid tissue typify lymphocyte responses of the gut, Virology 410(2) (2011) 429-436.

F. Scaggs Huang, D.I. Bernstein, K.S. Slobod, A. Portner, T. Takimoto, C.J. Russell, M. Meagher, B.G. Jones, R.E. Sealy, C. Coleclough, K. Branum, M. Dickey, K. Buschle, M. McNeal, M. Makowski, A. Nakamura, J.L. Hurwitz, Safety and immunogenicity of an intranasal sendai virus-based vaccine for human parainfluenza virus type I and respiratory syncytial virus (SeVRSV) in adults, Hum Vaccin Immunother 17(2) (2021) 554-559.

K.S. Slobod, J.L. Shenep, J. Lujan-Zilbermann, K. Allison, B. Brown, R.A. Scroggs, A. Portner, C. Coleclough, J.L. Hurwitz, Safety and immunogenicity of intranasal murine parainfluenza virus type 1 (Sendai virus) in healthy human adults, Vaccine 22(23-24) (2004) 3182-6.

E. Adderson, K. Branum, R.E. Sealy, B.G. Jones, S.L. Surman, R. Penkert, P. Freiden, K.S. Slobod, A.H. Gaur, R.T. Hayden, K. Allison, N. Howlett, J. Utech, J. Allay, J. Knight, S. Sleep, M.M. Meagher, C.J. Russell, A. Portner, J.L. Hurwitz, Safety and immunogenicity of an intranasal Sendai virus-based human parainfluenza virus type 1 vaccine in 3- to 6-year-old children, Clinical and vaccine immunology : CVI 22(3) (2015) 298-303.

Additional data available under CDA 

Licensing opportunities

We are currently seeking a partner to commercialize this vaccine. Contact: chad.riggs@stjude.org

Contact the Office of Technology Licensing (Phone: 901-595-2342, Fax: 901-595-3148) for more information.