In an update on the progress of Valneva’s Lyme disease vaccine candidate VLA15, the company says they have successfully concluded the end of Phase 1 process for this candidate with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has obtained alignment with regard to its Phase 2 strategy.
Valneva is now finalizing the detailed Phase 2 protocol and, subject to requisite regulatory approvals, expects to enter Phase 2 clinical development by the end of 2018.
Wolfgang Bender, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer of Valneva commented “We appreciate the valuable and constructive guidance the FDA has provided and are looking forward to progressing into Phase 2. Lyme is a vaccine preventable disease. We are strongly committed to advancing our Lyme disease vaccine candidate as quickly as possible with the aim of preventing this severe and often debilitating infection.”
Valneva’s vaccine candidate, VLA15, is currently the only active vaccine program in clinical development against Lyme disease. The program was granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July 2017 and Valneva reported positive interim Phase 1 results in March 2018. VLA15 showed a favorable safety profile and was immunogenic in all doses and formulations tested with good OspA-specific IgG antibody responses against all OspA serotypes.
VLA15 is a multivalent, protein subunit vaccine that targets the outer surface protein A (OspA) of Borrelia. It is designed for prophylactic, active immunization against Lyme disease aiming for protection against the majority of human pathogenic Borrelia species. VLA15 is designed to confer protection by raising antibodies that prevent Borrelia from migrating from ticks to humans after a bite. The safety profile is expected to be similar to other vaccines using the same technology that have been approved for active immunization in adults and children.
The target population includes individuals at risk above 2 years of age living in endemic areas, people planning to travel to endemic areas to pursue outdoor activities and people at risk who have a history of Lyme disease (as infection with Borrelia does not confer protective immunity against all pathogenic Borrelia species).
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