MVT FAQs
What is MVT's history?
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Biomedical Research Models (BRM) was established in 1996 as a spin out of UMass, Worcester. It operated as a CRO and concurrently developed a vaccine platform.
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Joinn LTD of China purchased Biomere's CRO in December 2019. The Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) required separation of Biomere's vaccine Intellectual Property (IP) from the CRO prior to sale.
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Mucosal Vaccine Technologies LLC (MVT) was established as the IP company. All the vaccine IP/products developed with $14.5 million of funding over 15 years were assigned to MVT at the time of the sale of the CRO business, including patents, licenses, equipment, and key vaccine components.
What IP, patents, and materials does MVT hold?
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MVT holds 3 patent families that are issued worldwide:
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Methods for tailoring the immune response to an antigen or immunogen
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A novel vaccination for Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2
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Therapeutic vaccines for treating Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 infections
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Master cell banks for plasmid and protein licensed for pichia superman 5 expression system
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Various viral cell banks for animal testing
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Equipment for virus production and testing
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Patent counsel provided by Cooley LLP
What funding was received for the MVT platfrom from 2002-2019 while at Biomere?
The vaccine was developed with funding from:
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Equity and profits from Biomere's preclinical CRO
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US Public Health Service (USPHS) grants from the CDC & prevention
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SBIR grants from NIH-NIAID for HSV2
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SBIR grant from NIH-NIAID for RSV
What is the prevalence of HSV2?
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Approximately 500 million cases worldwide
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776K new cases annually in USA
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12% occurence in adults
What are HSV2 transmission risks?
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Transmission risk even when non-symptomatic
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High newborn mortality/morbidity for HSV2 transmission
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Increases risk of HIV transmission 2-4X