A revolutionary approach to vaccination -
DNA vaccines

As of today, there are no DNA vaccines approved for use in humans or in animals. This will soon change as Heather Davis, Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences at U of O and Principal Researcher at the Loeb Research Institute, in collaboration with Bill Cheliak, President of ProGeneSys, may be the first to ever license a DNA vaccine.

Sue Efler M.Sc., Heather Davis Principal Investigator, Tong Wu Ph.D., and Joel Heppell Post Doctoral Fellow (at the Loeb Research Institute) together with ProGeneSys are developing the first commercial DNA vaccine for use in aquaculture.

Currently, vaccines are developed by using either a weakened or killed version of the disease-causing organism, or in some cases, by using a component of the organism such as the protein's envelope, inactive toxins or other proteins. In 1992, a revolutionary approach to vaccination was discovered by several groups of scientists world wide. Heather Davis was a member of one of these pioneering teams working on DNA vaccines for hepatitis B. DNA vaccines differ from current vaccines in that just the DNA coding for a specific component of the disease-causing organism is introduced into the human or animal. Compared to current vaccines, DNA vaccines are very stable over time and do not require refrigeration. They also provide life-long protection against the given disease-causing organism, thus eliminating multiple injections for continuous protection.

DNA vaccines for humans are either still in pre-clinical development or in early stage clinical trials, however, DNA vaccines for use in fish and shell fish (aquaculture) are closer to being a reality. Heather Davis in collaboration with Bill Cheliak at ProGeneSys are developing DNA vaccines for use in aquaculture. ProGeneSys is part of Cobequid Life Sciences Inc., a profitable Canadian biological company with divisions in Canada, United States, South America, and Europe. The Company has licenced over 30 products in 15 countries. Cobequid is the holding company of the Aqua Health Group of Companies and ProGeneSys; these companies are engaged in the research, production, and distribution of vaccines for the aquaculture industry. Cheliak is thrilled to have Davis as part of their network of research teams, "The Loeb Research Institute is a world leader in the development of DNA vaccines and will provide a very significant competitive edge to our research & development program." The Loeb Research Institute located at the Ottawa Hospital-Civic site and affiliated to the University of Ottawa, conducts basic and clinical research in Clinical Epidemiology, Hormones, Growth and Development, Neurosciences and the Diseases of Aging.

Heather Davis was recently awarded patent rights for DNA vaccines in aquaculture, which Cobequid assumed under a world-wide exclusive licensing agreement with the sponsor, Qiagen GmbH in Germany. Qiagen is a young biotechnology company specializing in the production and purification of DNA such as that used in DNA vaccines. Heather Davis with her post-doctoral fellow Jo‘l Heppell, a fish virologist, combined their expertise to develop this novel form of vaccination for the aquaculture industry. Davis explains, "The problem with traditional vaccines is that they cost more to make than the actual fish is worth. DNA vaccines are beneficial because they are inexpensive to make and very effective. Fish do not have a highly developed immune system and therefore need strong immunity to have long-lasting protection. In this respect, DNA vaccines are very useful since they only need to be given once — it is hard to revaccinate fish once they are out in the ocean in net-pens."

"The DNA vaccines that will be used in aquaculture will probably be the first ever to be licenced in the world. In 6 to 8 months ProGeneSys will submit the full regulatory package to Canada, the US and Europe." says Cheliak. The different R & D teams associated with Cobequid are working on DNA vaccines for two recently emerging diseases in the salmon industry. One of the diseases has been devastating on the salmon industry in Chile and the other has affected nearly 40% of the salmon farms on the Canadian east coast. This has had a large economic impact in the affected areas. ProGeneSys is expending its manufacturing facilities located in Charlottettown, PEI so as to meet the needs and requirements of the aquaculture industry. In the midst of all of this action, Davis says, "I am very impressed with the team that has been established to commercialize our DNA vaccines in aquaculture. We are looking forward to working with the ProGeneSys team to quickly develop new vaccines for these important new diseases. Our experience with DNA vaccines for human diseases allows us to keep abreast of the latest developments in this technology. We have been able to quickly apply this information to aquaculture diseases."