Vaccine platform receives funding to help protect against emerging mosquito-borne disease threats
A homegrown vaccine platform demonstrated in animals could soon become a ‘plug-and-play’ system to rapidly adapt to future mosquito-borne disease threats in humans. The ISVac™ platform — developed by Associate Professor Jody Peters, Dr Henry de Malmanche and Dr Jessica Harrison over more than a decade — genetically engineers a mosquito-specific virus to generate virus particles that are non-infectious to humans or animals. These particles have already been used as vaccines against Japanese encephalitis virus in pigs and West Nile virus in crocodiles.
The platform will now be advanced by Proboxis Biotechnology, a startup established with support from UQ’s commercialisation company UniQuest, which has secured $1.5 million through the inaugural round of Biointelect Venturer. If successful, the platform could support the development of vaccines for dengue, Zika, yellow fever and West Nile virus.
