Imophoron

Imophoron is developing a novel vaccine platform for use on emerging infectious diseases. The platform is based on a single component of the human Adenovirus that spontaneously forms a superparticle, the ADDomer.

The team have demonstrated tumor clearance in a melanoma (skin cancer) mouse model and are now developing a universal vaccine candidate for viral diseases including Chikungunya, Dengue and Zika.

Imophoron's primary technology platform is ADDomer, an adenovirus-derived multimeric protein-based self-assembling nanoparticle scaffold engineered to facilitate plug-and-play display of multiple immunogenic epitopes from pathogens. The technology was developed at the University of Bristol in collaboration with other institutions.

The researchers used cryo–electron microscopy at near-atomic resolution and implemented novel, cost-effective, high-performance cloud computing to reveal architectural features of these self-assembling protein nanoparticles in unprecedented detail.

ADDomer technology forms the basis of Imophoron's vaccine development work. The first implementation of ADDomer in a vaccine candidate was targeted at the Chikungunya virus.

The resulting vaccines made using ADDomer are stable and require no refrigeration. The company is currently engaged in pre-clinical trials.

In April 2020, Imophoron partnered with University's COVID-19 Emergency Research Group (UNCOVER) to apply its ADDomer vaccine platform in the development of a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19.