George Mason University’s National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases will provide their unique expertise and resources as a partner in the development of Emergex’s vaccines against highly pathogenic RNA viruses under a new agreement announced today.
“Everyone in the world today has or will be affected by highly pathogenic RNA viruses such as bird flu, Ebola, COVID-19, etc. These viruses have caused significant morbidity and mortality, especially in high-risk groups such as the immunocompromised or elderly,” noted Professor Thomas Rademacher, CEO and co-founder of Emergex, commented. “We are therefore very excited to announce today this agreement with George Mason University, which adds an important capability to Emergex’s vaccine program.”
Emergex’s set-point vaccines have been designed to offer advantages compared to traditional vaccines. These vaccines modify the initial immune status of the recipients in a way that ‘primes’ their immune systems to recognize subsequent infectious agents much like a natural infection would do, and thus preventing an acute or severe manifestation of the disease. They do this by providing a cell-mediated immune response (a T-cell response) rather than a humoral immune response (an antibody based immune response) which should stimulate longer lasting immunity.