Nieuwe technologieën kunnen niet altijd rekenen op een rode loper in hun traject van lab naar praktijk, weten we bij HollandBIO maar al te goed. Daarom zijn we erg blij dat de Nederlandse Artificial Intelligence Coalitie (NLAIC) de vindbaarheid, matchmaking en samenwerking in het Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosysteem wil verbeteren. De NLAIC werkt hiertoe aan een gestructureerd overzicht van AI-use cases in het domein Gezondheid en Zorg. Heb je een mooie use case die de inzet van Artificial Intelligence binnen dit domein in Nederland illustreert? Dien hem dan voor 16 juni via deze link in bij de NLAIC.

Uit de ingediende bijdragen selecteert de werkgroep Gezondheid en Zorg bovendien drie use cases, die zij als eerste gaan helpen met verdere opschaling. Zij zoeken hiervoor naar use cases die:

• de potentie laten zien om op korte termijn maatschappelijke impact te maken met waardevolle AI innovatie in de gezondheid en zorg.
• landelijk opschaalbaar zijn en eventueel snel uitbreidbaar zijn naar meer use cases.
• breed gedragen zijn in een samenwerking van relevante partijen nodig voor opschaling
• als het kan ook een van de randvoorwaarden voor het opschalen van AI positief beïnvloeden.

Bij de te kiezen use cases moet bovendien minstens één deelnemer van de NLAIC betrokken zijn. Use cases die na 16 juni worden ingediend worden wel zichtbaar voor de werkgroep, maar gaan niet mee in deze selectieronde.

Ben je een van de lucky three? Dan biedt de NLAIC een podium en hulp om de opschaling met manieren, middelen en partijen te versnellen en verbreden in Nederland. Zo presenteren deze cases zich op 6 juli tijdens “AI/Tech in a Day: Gezondheid & Zorg editie” in het bijzijn van de hoogste ambtenaar van het ministerie van Volksgezondheid, secretaris-generaal Erik Gerritsen, en neemt de NLAIC van tevoren voor elk van deze cases een korte video op. HollandBIO zegt: doen!

Intravacc, one of the world’s leading translational research and development vaccine institutes, with an extensive track record in developing viral and bacterial vaccines, and EpiVax, a biotechnology company based in Providence with expertise in developing vaccines and therapeutics, announce that they have entered into a collaboration agreement to further progress a novel vaccine against COVID-19, based on Intravacc’s proprietary Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMV) technology platform.

For this joint research project, Intravacc will combine its safe and immunogenic OMV delivery platform with synthetically produced COVID-19 epitopes (protein allergens), designed and optimized by EpiVax using advanced immunoinformatics tools, in order to generate a safe and highly effective T-cell response against SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses. Pre-clinical studies will start immediately so as to select the best candidate peptides for the vaccine. Intravacc will utilize its in-house pilot-scale facility for the GMP production of the OMV-peptide vaccine, for clinical (phase I) studies expecting to start in Q4 2020.

Annie De Groot, MD, CEO and CSO of EpiVax, said:

“We are thrilled to enter into a partnership with Intravacc using their very novel ‘click-on’ OMV technology and the highly immunogenic and safe SARS-CoV-2 multi-epitope-bearing peptides designed using the iVAX toolkit at EpiVax. We believe that the combination of technologies  and the strength of our longstanding collaboration with Intravacc will lead to the development of an effective and safe vaccine that could rapidly benefit hundreds of millions of people around the globe.”

Dr. Jan Groen, CEO of Intravacc, stated:

“A COVID-19 vaccine based on this approach is expected to be very safe and to reduce the morbidity and mortality rates associated with COVID-19. The vaccine is expected to lower the risk that individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 will require hospitalization and/or intensive care. It also expected to induce long-term memory responses to prevent COVID-19 disease and infection from other beta-corona viruses. We expect that leveraging Intravacc’s unique vaccine development expertise, broad-based network and successful track record in global technology transfer to vaccine manufacturers will bring success”.

About Intravacc’s OMV platform technology

For the development of vaccines against pathogens, Intravacc has designed and developed a platform based on outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) – spherical particles with intrinsic adjuvating properties. Using genetic engineering, the OMVs can be decorated with immunogenic peptides that combine T- cell epitopes that will drive effective adaptive immunity. Heterologous OMV vaccines are a suitable alternative approach to protect against pathogens that require a high level of containment, that are difficult to cultivate, or that contain viral and/or parasitic proteins. The antigens of choice are attached to the ‘empty’ OMV carrier resulting in a more effective immune response.

Intravacc also has developed genetic tools to increase the yield of OMVs, to reduce toxicity, and to achieve the desired antigenic composition. Intravacc’s OMV platform is fully scalable and allows for fast and efficient modification of antigen composition, either via genetic modification of the bacterial host or by associating antigens to stockpiled carrier OMVs.

Source: Intravacc (press release)

SeraNovo has signed a second License Agreement with Carna Biosciences, Inc., a company engaged in the drug development of kinase inhibitors. Under the agreement, the companies will expand their existing collaboration and jointly develop an oral formulation of a new active ingredient with an enhanced bioavailability.

Utilising its proprietary Deep Eutectic Solvent (DES) formulation platform, SeraNovo is formulating one of Carna’s proprietary drugs to increase its oral bioavailability. The DES formulation platform is based on GRAS excipients that are used for oral administration and broadly used in the industry.

Niall Hodgins, Chief Executive Officer of SeraNovo commented: “After our initial licence announcement in October 2019, we are pleased to extend our relationship with Carna to include the formulation of another promising active ingredient. This expansion of our partnership with an industry leader is a great development towards wide spread adoption of our breakthrough formulation technology.”

Source: SeraNovo