Dynavax Technologies Receives Confirmation of Immunostimulatory Linkage Technology

09.10.2001

Berkeley, CA, August 8, 2001 — Dynavax's proprietary immunostimulatory DNA sequences (ISS) have been shown effective in producing potent immune responses in mice when linked to envelope protein gp120 antigen. This research appears in the August 1 issue of The Journal of Immunology. The Journal of Immunology study was authored by Dynavax founder Eyal Raz, Anthony Horner, Sandip Datta, Kenji Takabayashi, Tomoko Hayashi, Nadya Cinman, Minh-Duc Nguyen, John Van Uden and Douglas Richman of the University of California at San Diego and Igor Belyakov and Jay Berzofsky of The National Cancer Institute. In the study, the researchers used mice to compare the immune response of vaccines consisting of the HIV gp120 antigen administered alone, in combination with ISS and in an ISS-antigen linked format. Both ISS containing vaccines elicited potent antigen-specific immune responses characterized by the production of antibodies, Th1 cytokines, CCR5-specific beta-chemokines and killer T-cell activity. These responses were achieved systemically as well as at mucosal sites and are thought to be necessary for an effective HIV vaccine. In general, the antigen alone and other controls either induced no response or only a weak antibody response. For almost all immune responses, the linked vaccine showed statistically significant improvement over the coadministered vaccine. Furthermore, the linked vaccine was able to induce a strong CD8 T cell response that was shown to be independent of CD4 T cell help. This is of particular importance in the context of a therapeutic vaccine for AIDS as patients are CD4 T cell-depleted. "The results of this study corroborate and expand upon our analogous vaccine research involving other linked antigens in both mice and primates," said Dino Dina, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Dynavax Technologies. "Dr. Raz and his colleagues have elegantly demonstrated and characterized the increased potency of our proprietary linkage technology as compared to a simple coadministration of antigen and ISS. Dynavax is moving forward, together with our partners Aventis-Pasteur and Triangle pharmaceuticals, to build both prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines for HIV, Hepatitis B and other viruses based on this technology."

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