NANOCOMPOSIX, INC. — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: NIAID

Description

Despite the global impacts of HIV on human healthwith an estimatedmillion new cases each year andmillion people living with HIVan effective vaccine has not been developedThere are many challenges for HIV vaccine development including the virus s rapidly changing surface immunogens and the early integration of the virus into the host s genomeTo overcome these challengesa mesoporous silica adjuvant particle will be developed that can be targeted to antigen presenting cells to facilitate particle uptakeThe pores of the particle will be loaded with both mRNA and agonists to elicit a strong immune responseThe particles will be capped with a pH sensitive polymer that will release the pore contents on exposure to the lower pH of the antigen presenting cell endosomeswhile protecting the contents prior to pH activationThe proposed nanocarrier addresses many of the prior deficiencies of other delivery strategies and has the potential to enable the development of a highly efficacious HIV vaccine