Summit Speaker Series: Repurposing cancer vaccine platforms to fight the spread of COVID-19
Summit Speaker Series, Session Six
Fighting Viruses with Viruses: Repurposing cancer vaccine platforms to fight the spread of COVID-19
Leveraging technologies and platforms initially developed for cancer therapies, this virtual seminar will provide an overview of the development and translation of a novel COVID-19 vaccine at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI).
By harnessing the immune stimulating power of oncolytic viruses, Drs. John Bell and Carolina Ilkow have developed a strategy to rapidly engineer and test COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Using this live virus vaccine approach, Dr. Bell and his team have seen very promising immune responses against COVID-19 in mouse models with their lead vaccine candidate and are currently testing their approach in large animal studies, with the goal of evaluating this vaccine in human clinical trials.
However, before this innovation can make it to the clinic, it needs to be manufactured to a scale and level of purity that would ensure that it is safe to be tested in people. The Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre- Virus Manufacturing Facility (VMF) has been manufacturing therapeutic viruses for use in clinical trials both domestically and abroad for the past 15 years. Located within the OHRI, the VMF has experience and expertise in both developing virus-specific manufacturing processes and in GMP production. Given its proficiency manufacturing therapeutic viruses, the VMF has pivoted quickly to adapt its processes to support the manufacture of virus-based COVID-19 vaccines, including Dr. Bell’s.
SPEAKERS
Dr. Jennifer Quizi
Dr. John Bell
This is a recording of a webinar that took place on March 10, 2021.
Learn more by visiting www.biocanrx.com