Defence Therapeutics Inc. announced that its encapsulation strategy used to generate Accum®-mRNA lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) results in an antibody response that is twice as potent as standard mRNA LNPs. These results constitute a strong basis for conducting additional tests to optimize Defence's mRNA vaccine pipeline. This in vivo study had two main objectives: testing multiple LNP formulations and comparing their induced immune responses to standard mRNA.

All vaccines were delivered as part of a prime-boost vaccination protocol with animal bleeding performed every two weeks over a total period of 4 weeks and antibody titers quantified by ELISA. Amongst the tested groups, one Accum®-containing LNP formulation stood-up triggering a higher antibody compared to the remaining groups. Defence will design additional studies, currently now being prepared to test different concentrations of the selected LNPs.

Once the optimal dosing is identified, a validation study will be conducted in cancer- bearing mice to test their therapeutic potency. In this case, animals will be transplanted with a solid tumor expressing an experimental antigen followed by a prime-boost vaccination administered alone or in combination with immune-checkpoint blockers such as anti-PD-1. Accum® has been tested in various applications including protein and cell-based vaccination modalities and was discovered to significantly boost their therapeutic potency. Defence is therefore convinced that Accum® will increase the stability of mRNA molecules by enhancing structural integrity of the molecule, and augment their bio-accumulation and efficient translation in target cells resulting in a stronger immune-reactivity as shown with its latest LNP vaccination study.