The federally funded interdisciplinary research project “HIVacToGC” was launched to investigate new approaches to the prevention and treatment of HIV infections.
March 2021 – Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Ralf Wagner from the University of Regensburg, 2bind scientists are involved in developing ways to specifically transport HIV antigens into lymph nodes. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is supporting the project as part of its “Targeted Drug Delivery” funding program with a total funding amount of 2.4 million euros over a period of three years. In addition to the team led by Professor Wagner (Molecular Microbiology, Virology), other partners involved in the research project include the Institute of Pharmacy at the UR, the Institute of Biomolecular Nanotechnology at the Technical University of Munich, the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the company tilibit GmbH.
For the development of suitable vaccine formulations, the research team plans to use modified DNA origami nanoparticles; these are programmable three-dimensional structures that are produced from DNA building blocks. These artificial, virus-like particles can be precisely fitted with the envelope protein of the HI virus and other functional carriers. The latter support the targeted transport of the functionalized nanoparticles into the lymph nodes on the one hand, and on the other hand the incipient immune response is specifically boosted by molecular adjuvants. This process is supported by the administration of the nanoparticles in combination with specially composed hydrogels, which enable a time-controlled flooding of the immune system with the functionalized nanoparticles.
“2bind GmbH is the ideal development partner for us. With its experience in biophysics and the formulation technologies, 2bind GmbH ideally complements the expertise of the other partners. The analytical systems provided by 2bind close a long-neglected gap in the development and formulation of vaccines and antibody-based therapeutics, reduce the risks in the run-up to preclinical and clinical development and thus contribute to accelerated product development,” says Prof. Wagner.
“We are happy to bring our in-depth knowledge of biologics analytics and formulation development into this multi-disciplinary team of experts.”, stated Dr. Maximilian Plach, 2bind’s COO. He added that this joint research project hopefully highlights how important early biophysical analytics are for risk-mitigation within biologics development projects and reduction of down-stream failure rates.
