Hi all,
I was reading about this new vaccine candidate GS-2829 which showed promising results in monkeys and was wondering if anyone has any idea about its working and success chances? Does this vaccine design check all your boxes andrew? I know this is just preclinical data and a lot of trials are required but could not understand how this vaccine was formulated
Hi Ash_Malhotra,
The therapeutic vaccine that Gilead is examining in clinical trials is similar in design to ThervacB but using a “boost - prime” approach instead of a “prime - boost” approach.
The “boost” uses a Pichinde virus to "activate the immune resposne (GS-2829). This is harmless, well tolerated and a good way to prepare the immune system to respond to the next step.
The “prime” uses an adenovirus where the genetic information encoding the adenoviral surface protein is replaced with the three HBV antigens (GS-6779). These antigens comprising single copies of wildtype or high prevalence HBV antigens (including HBsAg). Even though “screened against > 24,000 HBV sequences” from patients, these sequences do not adequately represent quasispecies diversity within each and every patient. The HBsAg antigen is also presented in a suboptimal fashion (not as a SVP).
So some interesting approaches but also some design deficiencies. We will really have to wait to see what the data looks like in clinical trials in infected individuals.
Best regards,