According to STAT article “Next-generation Covid-19 vaccines are supposed to be better. Some experts worry they could be worse” With Covid-19 vaccines, the world hopes to beat back the virus that causes the disease. But some scientists are increasingly concerned that, because of a quirk of our own biology, future iterations of the vaccines might not always be quite as effective as they are today.The concerns stem from a phenomenon that is known as imprinting, sometimes called original antigenic sin, which is believed to affect how we respond to some pathogens. In short, when your body is introduced to a particular threat for the first time — either through infection or a vaccine — that encounter sets your immune system’s definition of that virus and what immune weapons it needs to detect and protect against it in the future.
In comparing the before and after blood samples, they saw in the post-infection sample a “dramatic” rise in antibodies to one of the humans coronaviruses that is among the causes of the common cold. It was a virus called OC43, which is in the same coronavirus family as SARS-2, as well as the viruses that cause SARS and MERS.In other words, Covid infection actually boosted the immune system’s protection against a different virus, one that the immune system already knew. Still, Hensley isn’t worried about imprinting — or at least not among people who have been vaccinated with mRNA vaccines. The very strong immune response generated by the Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech NYSE:PFE NASDAQ:BNTX vaccines should override any imprinting impacts as SARS-2 mutates, he said. Hensley worries, though, that people whose immunity to the virus comes from infection, not vaccination, might have more difficulty handling variant viruses because of imprinting effects.
Krammer used as an example research done by scientists at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and University of Turku on vaccination against H5N1 bird flu. H5N1 vaccine that don’t contain adjuvants — boosting compounds — appear to generate poor immune responses. But in a paper published in the journal Vaccine, the researchers reported that a priming and boosting regimen that used two different H5N1 vaccines, made with different strains of the virus, induced a strong and long-lasting response.
We may find out whether this is going to be a problem sooner than you’d think. Moderna NASDAQ: MRNA is working with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — which helped it design its original Covid vaccine — to test an updated version of its vaccine that targets the variant first spotted in South Africa, B.1.351. That variant appears to be able to evade immune responses triggered by earlier versions of the virus.
“The Phase 1 studies conducted by Moderna and NIAID … will produce immunogenicity data that will address this question,” John Mascola, director of NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center, told STAT in an email. “So data directly bearing on the question will be forthcoming over the next weeks and months.”
As big pharma races to save millions of lives there is a smaller less known “sleeping giant” in the CAR-T space developing advanced S-layer technology with limitless applications in the key development of an intranasal vaccine. S-Layer “surface layer” technology is used to develop an intranasal vaccine that attaches to the mucosal membrane CEO Dr. David Jin pointed out. “We see our vaccine candidate as a complement to any injectable vaccines in clinical trials, because it could provide first-line immune protection at the virus’s entrance site”. Adding a coat of an S-layer onto solid surfaces can greatly improve the function of a therapeutic, vaccine, or device. The S-layer allows enhanced efficiency and interaction of targeted proteins and molecules for better function.
Avalon GloboCare is in the process of establishing a state-of-the-art research facility, the Christian Doppler Laboratory, located on the BOKU campus in Vienna, Austria, under the scientific leadership of Professor Eva-Kathrin Ehmoser, the Head of BOKU’s Institute for Synthetic Bioarchitectures and Professor Uwe Sleytr, a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In connection with the new facility, Avalon and BOKU have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly apply for a matching research grant from the prestigious Christian Doppler Laboratory Foundation. Avalon also has research being done in MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the UNRLS (University of Natural Resources and life sciences in Australia), Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City and the Lu Daopei Medical Group in China, which has the country’s top ranked hematology and bone marrow transplant program
In the December 2020 issue of Nature’s Biopharma Dealmakers, Avalon’s President and CEO, David Jin, M.D., Ph.D., highlighted Avalon’s ongoing scientific and clinical developments including a first-in-human trial of a mucosal, intranasal vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 that is planned for early 2021. Dr. Jin also described the company’s innovative, allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy candidate, CB-MSC-1, which possess unique anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities, as well as AVA-001, Avalon’s third-generation CAR T cell therapy that has shown robust activity in patients with relapsed, refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a Phase 1 trial (Avalon feature in Biopharma Dealmakers).
“We are excited and motivated to join forces with the researchers at BOKU to drive innovation. We have already begun a collaboration on the mucosal SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and are moving quickly to establish additional joint research endeavors to bring about innovative technologies and new medicines to patients,” said Dr. Jin.
Avalon GloboCare, is a young, $100 million market cap company that has arguably some of the brightest minds in cell-based technology who have a competitive advantage with their “S-Layer” technology in a vaccine market that is expected to grow to approximately 93.billion by 2026 according to Forbes business . This small cap biotechnology company is working towards the goal of changing the way we fight the devastating effects of diseases that relentlessly attack our immune systems by using our own bodies against us. In the first quarter of 2020, Avalon GloboCare successfully completed a phase 1 first-in-human clinical study of AVA-001 in China for the treatment of relapsed refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (R/R B-ALL). 90% of R/R B-ALL patients achieved complete remission with one dose and within one month of treatment, and then proceeded to a curative-intent allogeneic bone marrow transplant. With more upcoming catalysts in early 2021, it is safe to say that there is a large potential upside in AVCO’s stock is currently trading at its 52 week know at 1.00 in change , as the market is anticipating updates on their progress on multiple clinical trials, leaving the question most investors are asking themselves.” When will Avalon GloboCare (NASDAQ:AVCO) take off ?”
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