ImmunoVaccine Technologies Inc (IVT), a vaccine development company, has signed a collaboration agreement with the National Research Council Institute for Biodiagnostics (NRC-IBD) Atlantic. This collaboration will develop new 3-D MRI technology to track the effect of IVT's DepoVax technology on reducing tumour growth.

"This research has the potential to deliver extremely sensitive MRI analysis, down to the individual cell level, and we will see, for the first time, our DepoVax formulation in action," remarked Dr Marc Mansour, vice president R&D at IVT.

In pre-clinical studies, IVT has shown that DepoVax vaccines can eradicate cancerous tumours. This new research involves labelling liposomes, suspended in the DepoVax formulation, with iron-oxide nanoparticles. The 3-D MRI analysis will shed light on the activity of DepoVax in vivo, and allow the monitoring of tumour elimination in real time.

Current MRI techniques are well established in biomedical research. This research aims at developing highly sensitive and quantitative techniques for monitoring tumour progression and vaccine clearance in vivo.

"This collaboration means that NRC-IBD Atlantic will break new ground in developing novel MRI imaging techniques that will vastly improve the quality of information that may be acquired non-invasively," continued Mansour.

Most recently, ImmunoVaccine Technologies presented significant advancements in its therapeutic cancer, pandemic influenza and Hepatitis B vaccine applications at BIO 2009 international convention.

ImmunoVaccine Technologies is a privately held, vaccine development company. Through its own biotech research, patented DepoVax technology, and collaborations with partners, IVT creates vaccines with the potential to help save and improve lives around the world.