TFF Pharmaceuticals said that in vitro testing has confirmed the efficacy of a monoclonal antibody against Ebolavirus Zaire and a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) vaccine candidate against Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus formulated using the company’s thin film freezing technology. According to TFF, the in vitro studies demonstrated that both the mAb and rVSV vaccines retained their activity after TFF formulation. The company is now optimizing the formulations and conducting long-term stability testing.
In April 2020, TFF announced that it had signed a 3-year agreement with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) to develop inhaled vaccines against alphaviruses such as equine encephalitis and against filoviruses such as Ebola. The mAb and rVSV vaccine are the first two candidates developed under that agreement.
TFF Pharmaceuticals CEO Glen Mattes said, “This data utilizing our TFFD technology to reformulate currently developed and characterized medical countermeasures against EBOV and VEEV is an important milestone. Most countermeasures are parenterally delivered, require trained personnel for administration and are temperature sensitive. There is an urgent need to develop technologies to improve biodefense countermeasures to better protect the warfighter.”
USAMRIID Viral Immunology Branch Chief John M. Dye, Jr commented, “Great strides have been made to develop licensed countermeasures against Department of Defense (DoD) select agents of interest, such as Ebolavirus Zaire (EBOV) and Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEEV). An alternate route of administration that bypasses the need for cold chain control and administration by specialized personnel could be critical in the protection of our defense forces in biologically hostile environments around the globe.”
Read the TFF Pharmaceuticals press release.
