The NEXTBIOMICS, a biotech company dedicated to the research and development of next generation probiotics e spin-off of the University of Naples Federico II, has filed a patent application for a bacterial vaccine against the COVID-19 syndrome.
The engineering of the probiotic Escherichia Coli Nissle 1917, expressing the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein, obtained an innovative model of immunization against COVID-19 by stimulating the intestinal immune system.
The vaccine differs from all the others in that does not require injection, does not use a viral vector such as Adenovirus and exploits the intrinsic ability of Escherichia Coli Nissle 1917 to modulate the immune response.
“The NEXBIOMICS vaccine is similar to the others already authorized, as it stimulates the immune response against the Spike protein that the Coronavirus uses to infect cells, but it differs from it because it uses as a vector a probiotic bacterium, already on the market and widely used”, declares Giovanni Sarnelli, professor of Gastroenterology at the Federico II University, co-founder and CEO of NEXTBIOMICS.
The strong point is to make the process faster, with the advantage of oral administration that does not require personnel and / or health facilities, or vaccination centers. This reduces the costs of management, distribution and the pressure on public facilities and makes the whole process easier, it is not necessary to maintain refrigeration conditions.
“Preclinical data conducted on a mouse model – he adds Giuseppe Esposito, Professor of Pharmacology at the Sapienza University of Rome, scientific director and co-founder of NEXTBIOMICS – show that the administration for 5 days a week, for a total of 17 weeks, of engineered Escherichia Coli Nissle 1917 was able to stimulate significantly the immune response, with the production of circulating IgM and IgG antibodies, without any side and / or adverse effects being documented. Even more interesting is the ability of the vaccine to significantly stimulate the production of IgA at the mucosal, intestinal and bronchial level, guaranteeing de facto further protection against COVID-19 infection “.
Several pharmaceutical companies are interested so that the invention and experimental data can be used to implement the clinical trial and bring the new vaccine to the market.
The conception phase and the scientific part were accompanied by a fruitful experimental and strategic design activity carried out in collaboration with the The following Biotech, Spanish company expert in genomics. “The epidemiological data and the evolution of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic indicate that citizens will have to continue to undergo the vaccine booster”, highlights Walter Sanseverino, CEO of Sequentia Biotech and Co-Founding Partner of NEXTBIOMICS. The CFO is satisfied with the successful experimentation Francesco Campobasso: “This milestone, in addition to the other new generation probiotics already patented by our team, allows us to accelerate our line of development for the release of annual broad-spectrum versions for the mutated variants of COVID-19 that during the time may appear “.