DBV Enters Whooping Cough Booster Vax Pact

DBV Technologies has entered into a collaboration agreement with BioNet-Asia Co. and the University of Geneva (UNIGE) to develop a whooping cough (pertussis) booster vaccine. The clinical proof-of-concept product candidate will combine BioNet’s recombinant non-toxic Pertussis Toxin (rPT) with DBV’s Viaskin technology, which allows for the epicutaneous delivery of the antigen without an adjuvant.

The R&D collaboration will measure the specific immunity and protective responses elicited by a Viaskin pertussis antigens boost in a Bordetella pertussis respiratory model. A clinical study program will be initiated in 2H14 to evaluate the boosting influence of recombinant non-toxic pertussis toxin delivered by Viaskin in a Phase I, proof-of-concept, study that will assess the safety and immunogenicity.

Dr. Pierre-Henri Benhamou, chairman and chief executive officer of DBV Technologies, said, “We are honored to collaborate with the team of the University of Geneva on this very exciting new application of the Viaskin Platform for booster vaccination. We consider it a privilege to be the first European partner of BioNet in the frame of such a trustful collaboration with the BioNet team. With BioNet’s experience in recombinant vaccine antigens, coupled with DBV’s epicutaneous delivery method and the University of Geneva’s vaccinology track record, this collaboration could open a new field to the delivery of vaccines, allowing to increase compliance and help control diseases such as pertussis that are unfortunately on the rise again.”