The ’Adenovirus’ team led by Pascal Fender in the Methods & Electron Microscopy group at IBS is working on the adenovirus proteins involved in the entry of this virus, which infects many animal species and humans. This team discovered a non-infectious virus-like protein particle mimicking this virus : ADDomerTM. In 2016, in collaboration with the EMBL in Grenoble, the researchers modified this particle to expose epitopes of emerging viruses, leading to the creation of a new vaccine platform. After filing a CNRS/EMBL patent in 2017, the results were published in Science Advances in 2019 (Vragniau et al., 2019). In 2021, the British company Imophoron has just bought a licence for this patent and completed a 4.7M€ fundraising to perform preclinical studies and to test vaccines against three viruses : respiratory syncytial virus, chikungunya, and SARS-Cov2. It will validate the ADDomer as a platform for future vaccines development.
Contact : Pascal Fender (IBS/Methods & Electron Microscopy group)