AmVac AG, a biopharmaceutical company that develops and markets innovative vaccines, announced new preclinical data on its vaccine candidate AMV602 for the prevention of infections caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Last fall, the company selected the candidate as the most promising for further development among a range of potential leads.

In preclinical studies, renowned RSV expert Prof. ssa Grazia Cusi and her team at the University of Siena, Italy, have now confirmed the candidate's excellent safety and efficacy, showing that even reduced doses of AMV602 trigger effective immune protection against RSV. Moreover, they have significantly expanded the database concerning the vaccine's therapeutic mode of action. A detailed analysis of immunological parameters further substantiates its exceptional ability to activate the two mechanisms of immune defense at the same time: the humoral immune response with antibodies as key players, and the cellular immune response with macrophages, natural killer cells and specific cytotoxic T cells as effectors.

"This mode of action clearly differentiates our vaccine from other development projects in this field. It is the likely explanation for the unique combination of safety and efficacy," Melinda Karpati, CEO of AmVac, comments. "This makes us confident that we will be able to protect premature babies, infants and other risk groups from RSV infections in the foreseeable future. Recent outbursts of RSV in a number of hospitals have dramatically shown how threatening the infection can be in these individuals."

RSV is one of the most common causes of bronchiolitis and pneumonia and a leading cause of childhood hospitalization around the world. The disease is particularly dangerous and potentially life-threatening for premature babies, children with other health conditions and the elderly. A high-cost monoclonal antibody therapy with limited efficacy is currently the only specific treatment option.

AmVac's vaccine candidate AMV602 is based on an innovative technology (Sendai vector technology) that was invented at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany and developed by AmVac.

RSV seriously affects some 64 million people worldwide, and about 160,000 die of the disease each year. Nearly all children are infected with the virus at least once by the age of 2 years. Many children develop pulmonary disease and/or asthma from RSV that persists throughout adult life making them susceptible to re-infection. An effective RSV vaccine used in the community could substantially reduce incidence and mortality and attain peak sales of over USD 1 billion.