Blog Stories

This week we will be sharing results from a study of VRX1116, a simian analog for an investigational, lentiviral-based vaccine for HIV VRX1273, at the AIDS Vaccine 2010 conference in Atlanta, GA. This conference is focused on bringing together HIV opinion leaders. We are honored and exited to be sharing our research, which we feel has reached a milestone. AIDS Vaccine 2010 is being held September 28 – October 1, 2010 at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.  The VRX1116 data will be presented as “Highly immunogenic lentiviral vaccine provides control of viral load, preservation of the CD4 compartment, and survival advantage post-SIV challenge” at 6:30pm Eastern Standard Time.

Today Dr. Jenice D’Costa, Senior Scientist at VIRxSYS, participated in the Maryland Stem Cell Research Symposium. The event featured research supported by the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) and federal agencies in the state of Maryland as well as presentations and poster sessions by researchers, such as VIRxSYS, who have been awarded MSCRF grants. This marks the first time in U.S. history in which both state and federal entities collaborated to address critical issues in stem cell research. VIRxSYS received a grant from the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission (MSCRC) to develop safer methods for induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS) using the company’s proprietary spliceosome-mediated RNA trans-splicing (SMaRT™) and lentiviral gene delivery platform technologies. iPS cells have the ability to develop into different cell types in the body and have potential therapeutic applications for the regeneration of damaged organs or replacement of defective tissues with genetically corrected stem cells, giving these cells many potential clinical applications. If iPS cells are administered using gene delivery systems that integrate within the DNA of the cells, there is a possibility that they may be reactivated to express pluripotency factors inappropriately. The VIRxSYS lentiviral vector delivery system is thought to be safer because it is integration deficient and will result in only transient expression of these factors, which will eventually be lost as the cells are reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells. The VIRxSYS SMaRT™ technology will link the expression of these ‘reprogramming” factors to genes which are turned on only at the relevant stage of cell differentiation, and then shut off once iPS are generated. The VIRxSYS technology is an elegant alternative to the current methods in practice to generate iPS cells using virus based delivery techniques without their potential downsides.

When one looks at the fight against HIV/AIDS in the third world, there have been very few victories. We were reminded this week about one significant accomplishment in those regions, that being the fight against Mother-to-Child transmission of HIV.  The program Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) provided nevirapine at no cost to infected mothers and newborn babies from 2000 to 2010 as a way to prevent HIV transmission. PMTCT is credited with saving four million babies from HIV infection. Please click here for the final report of the project. I am proud to say that Dr. Riku Rautsola, our President and CEO, was instrumental in launching the Mother-to-Child program when he was with Boehringer Ingleheim. He also co-founded and chaired “Accelerating Access,” which focused on providing low-cost HIV treatments in developing countries. Dr. Rautsola and our team here at VIRxSYS continue the search for breakthrough therapies for the treatment of HIV.

- Gary J. McGarrity, PhD – Executive Vice President of Scientific and Clinical Affairs