Our Lead asset
Our Lead Asset
Current vaccines and limitations
Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) remains a major infectious disease worldwide despite widespread vaccination schedules with pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV). Vaccine effectiveness is contingent upon adequate coverage of prevalent disease-causing serotypes. However, as more bacterial serotypes emerge in the community there is a continuous need to update existing vaccines by inclusion of additional serotype polysaccharide antigens. Technical and cost constraints limit the capacity of the conjugate vaccine technology to maintain adequate protective immune ‘coverage’, therefore, invasive disease coupled with increasing antibiotic resistance results in a global death incidence of approximately 2 million people annually. Historical data, combined with current industry trends, demonstrate that the current PCV-era vaccines are insufficient in fighting against the evolution of Spn.
Introducing V-212
V-212, the lead pneumococcal vaccine candidate, is specifically engineered as a serotype-independent, fully-synthetic immunogen. Multiple conserved antigenic epitopes from key Streptococcus pneumoniae surface proteins are synthesized and conjugated to SVLP nanoparticles, aiming to induce broad immunity across diverse serotypes—addressing the limitations of current conjugate vaccines.
Preclinical studies have demonstrated robust, long-lasting immunogenicity in mouse and rabbit models. V-212 prevented lethal sepsis in a serotype 3 challenge, inhibited bacterial dissemination into blood, and reduced pulmonary burden. It also conferred protection against serotype 8 infections. Moreover, antisera elicited by V-212 recognized multiple pneumococcal serotypes, including non-PCV-13 types, underscoring its serotype-independent potential.
V-212 has the potential to overcome limitations that remain persistent in the PCV era. It addresses the unmet need due to new serotype emergence and the poor coverage of existing PCV serotypes. As a result, V-212 has the potential to shift the current paradigm, offering a proactive approach to combating pneumonia or invasive disease, in contrast to the reactionary approach taken by the current PCV-dominant trend. Additional studies are ongoing to elucidate the mechanism of protection conferred by V-212 and to evaluate its potential to be combined with approved pneumococcal conjugate vaccines.
