The Significant Opportunities for DNA Vaccines
What inspired the development of DNA vaccines?
Inspired by the first experimental vaccination in 1796, modern vaccine technology has protected millions of people from disability and death from devastating infectious diseases. In fact, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in the November 2007 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association that vaccines have cut deaths from the 13 diseases they prevent by a stunning 99%. These diseases include diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b, acute hepatitis B, hepatitis A, chickenpox, Streptococcus pneumoniae and smallpox.
The dramatic success of vaccines (which we will refer to as "conventional vaccines" to distinguish them from new immunotherapies and DNA vaccines) inspired scientists to harness the body's immune system to tackle allergies, autoimmune diseases, cancer, and other infectious diseases. Unfortunately, the technological approach used to create the first "conventional" vaccine successes was not viable for creating vaccines against cancer, HIV, hepatitis C, and a legion of other deadly and disabling diseases with inadequate treatments.
Significant scientific research investment has resulted in a new class of agents broadly referred to as immunotherapies that are focused on modulating or regulating the immune system up or down in order to achieve a prophylactic (prevent against future disease) or therapeutic (treat existing disease) goal. The complexity of the body's immune system has only been partially deciphered. But development successes to date have increased the scientific community's conviction that harnessing the body's immune system against poorly treated diseases such as cancers and chronic infectious diseases represents an important avenue for creating a number of clinical solutions.
At the forefront of these efforts, researchers are expending significant time and capital to develop a new generation of immunotherapies. These are DNA-based immunotherapies and DNA vaccines — and they are showing tremendous promise in overcoming the constraints of conventional vaccines and other immunotherapy approaches for an array of diseases.
Next-generation vaccines: addressing significant unmet needs
The clinical and commercial opportunity is significant. For example, the development of next-generation vaccines for cancers and chronic infectious diseases could represent, as shown in the chart below, a potential market of 400 million existing patients (US & EU), expanding by approximately 22 million new incidences annually (American Cancer Society & other sources). The $13 billion global vaccine business is predicted to grow 18% per year to $30 billion in 2011, four times the 4.4% growth of the drug industry (Lehman, 2007).
Inovio and/or its partners are developing multiple product candidates targeting most of the devastating diseases outlined in the above diagram.
Why are immunotherapies an important field? Go to Immunotherapy Background.
What is the role of Inovio's electroporation-based DNA delivery technology?