NanoBio RSV Program:

In November 2010 NanoBio Corporation received a $6M grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the development of a safe and effective intranasal vaccine for RSV. This grant funds the ongoing preclinical development program in support of a Phase 1 clinical trial.

In another critical milestone in the development of the first vaccine to protect against RSV, NanoBio entered into a licensing agreement with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in July 2011.  The agreement provides NanoBio with global rights to a novel RSV antigen, developed by the NIH using proprietary viral-selection and reverse-genetics technology.  NanoBio will formulate the NIH antigen in combination with its NanoStat® adjuvant technology for use as an intranasal vaccine.

NanoBio's technology has demonstrated in mice a unique ability to elicit robust mucosal, systemic and cellular Th1 immunity following nasal RSV vaccination. Protection was provided to the challenged mice without causing increased mucus production or other signs of enhanced respiratory disease. In addition the technology limits the need for refrigerating vaccines and is administered without the use of needles. Each of these advantages is critical to efforts to prevent disease and health in the developing world.

About RSV:

The US Center for Disease Control reports that RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia among infants and children under 1 year of age. Illness begins most frequently with fever, runny nose, cough, and sometimes wheezing. During their first RSV infection, between 25% and 40% of infants and young children have signs or symptoms of bronchiolitis or pneumonia, and 0.5% to 2% require hospitalization. Most children recover from illness in 8 to 15 days. The majority of children hospitalized for RSV infection are under 6 months of age.  The disease is particularly prevalent and dangerous for premature babies and in the elderly. 

RSV also causes repeated infections throughout life, usually associated with moderate-to-severe cold-like symptoms; however, severe lower respiratory tract disease may occur at any age, especially among the elderly or among those with compromised cardiac, pulmonary, or immune systems. Datamoinitor estimates that a total of 18 million people annually become infected by RSV in the seven major global markets. 

A vaccine would mean a big step forward in the prevention of hospitalizations and deaths as at this time as there is no commercially available RSV vaccine.