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Biotech Company Pleased With Results Of Early Testing Demonstrating Vaccine Potential For Multiple Sclerosis - Seite 2

GlialCAM Molecules Mimic Epstein Barr

Earlier this year, a study in the leading science journal Nature showed that a molecule called GlialCAM found in the brain’s white matter is attacked in MS. GlialCAM shares a component of its protein structure that mimics an identical component of the Epstein Barr virus Nuclear Antigen-1, which plays a critical role in triggering MS.

In Pasithea’s proof of concept study, relapsing paralysis was established in a mouse model of relapsing-remitting experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the standard animal model of MS. In three groups, a proprietary DNA cassette was engineered to encode GlialCAM and injected to block acute disease and its relapse.

Pasithea reported that these DNA molecules were designed to protect against paralytic disease by tolerizing the immune system so it would not attack myelin in the brain and spinal cord. The engineered DNA molecule created tolerance and worked as an inverse vaccine.

There are currently 15 vaccines actively under development for Epstein-Barr virus, most in preclinical stages. The vaccine is a recombinant vector vaccine that uses the same technology that AstraZeneca plc (NASDAQ: AZN) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) used in their COVID-19 vaccines. Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA), meanwhile, has started testing the vaccine mRNA-1189 in Phase I studies but does not indicate MS, though the company believes it could potentially assist in prevention.

Pasithea’s data showed that the engineered DNA plasmids provide a high level of efficacy in reducing disease severity and incidence of relapse when administered prophylactically in the EAE model, a widely used relapsing-remitting model of MS.

"Although early stage, we believe these results demonstrate the promise and validity of our tolerizing approach, which is built on recent data on the biological mechanism linking infection with EBV with the development of MS,” Pasithea CEO Dr. Tiago Reis Marques said. “We have filed a provisional patent application, and we will continue to rapidly pursue the PAS002 drug development program.”