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Blue Water Vaccines Announces Signing of Sponsored Research Agreement with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio to Initiate Non-Human Primate Study for Live Attenuated, Orally Delivered Chlamydia Vaccine
CINCINNATI, April 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blue Water Vaccines Inc. (“BWV” or “Blue Water Vaccines” or the “Company”), a biopharmaceutical company
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[{"type":"text","content":"CINCINNATI, April 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blue Water Vaccines Inc. (“BWV” or “Blue Water Vaccines” or the “Company”), a biopharmaceutical company developing transformational vaccines to address significant global health challenges, today announced the signing of a Sponsored Research Agreement (the “Agreement”) with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (“UT Health Science Center San Antonio”) to fund a non-human primate (“NHP”) study to evaluate the efficacy of BWV-401, a live attenuated, orally delivered Chlamydia vaccine. In November 2022, BWV signed an exclusive, global license agreement with UT Health Science Center San Antonio for the development of this novel vaccine candidate, BWV-401, to prevent Chlamydia infection. BWV-401 utilizes a modified strain of Chlamydia to colonize in the gastrointestinal tract and has produced transmucosal protection against genital tract Chlamydia infection in mouse models without altering the gut microbiota. In this new effort, BWV will fund an NHP study to further evaluate the efficacy of BWV-401 and provide additional support for development towards human clinical trials. Often regarded as the gold standard animal model for drug development and approval, NHP studies allow researchers to assess safety and efficacy of vaccines in human-like models without completing full, robust human clinical trials. In this upcoming study, NHPs will be vaccinated with BWV-401 and subsequently challenged against Chlamydia to validate the hypothesis that, along with being a safe, this vaccine, when delivered orally, is capable of eliciting an effective immune response in the genital tract and can protect against Chlamydia infection. “We are thrilled to initiate this study with our partners at UT Health Science Center San Antonio for BWV-401,” said Joseph Hernandez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Water Vaccines. “There remains a high unmet need for an efficacious Chlamydia vaccine to prevent the millions of infections seen around the world each year. We look forward to completing this study and moving one step closer towards clinical development of this novel vaccine.” According to the CDC, Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial STI in the United States, with about 1.6 million new cases reported in 2020 alone. Globally, the WHO estimates about 129 million...