Welcome to PDS Biotechnology Corporation
PDS is harnessing the newly discovered properties of specific synthetic positively charged (cationic) lipids to develop a new generation of more versatile, simpler, safer and significantly more potent B- and T-cell activating vaccines. PDS’s proprietary Versamune™ platform nanotechnology when combined with T-cell antigens leads to superior cures for infection and cancer.
Therapeutic vaccines also called immunotherapies are regarded as possibly having the greatest potential of any class of drugs to successfully treat a broad range of debilitating pathogenic/ infectious diseases and cancers. Vaccines are also considered to be the most cost effective means of treating and managing most pathogenic diseases and cancer. Using the Versamune™ platform, PDS is able to rapidly develop potent vaccines by combining the selected disease-specific antigen with Versamune™ into a simple and cost effective vaccine.
An antigen is a substance that is capable of inducing a specific immune response and may be derived from a pathogen e.g. a virus or a protein uniquely expressed in cancer cells. The T-cells are the effector cells of the curative or therapeutic arm of the immune system. T-cells are also now recognized as being important in generating long-term protective immunity against several diseases.
Despite the advancements made in identifying suitable disease-specific antigens, a very important fact remains. Even with an excellent T-cell antigen identified, in order to generate a robust and therapeutically relevant T-cell immune response, several very significant obstacles have to be overcome.
- Uptake and Processing: Upon administration, the protein or peptide antigen has to be effectively taken up by an important class of cells known as the antigen presenting cells, and then correctly processed for presentation to the T-cells.
- Safety and Robustness: A safe immune activator or adjuvant that can significantly enhance the induction of 2 types of T-cell immune responses, the CD4+ (helper and memory) and CD8+ (killer), by effectively activating the antigen presenting cells and inducing the production of the necessary immune factors known as cytokines and chemokines is critical. Most investigative T-cell adjuvants in development present a strong potential for dangerous and toxic inflammation in humans, and most do not generate the broad and robust T-cell responses required.
- Immune Suppression: Many types of suppressive immune cells have been identified that, in the case of cancer, for example, suppress the T-cell response and “tolerize” the immune system to the tumor’s presence. The next generation of vaccines should focus on effectively combating the immune suppressor cells in order to more effectively manage and treat such diseases.
The Versamune™ nanotechnology presents a giant step forward in the development of the next generation of vaccines by addressing each of the above mentioned factors with a simple synthetic lipid molecule.
PDS is preparing to initiate clinical trials in 2012 of the company’s lead Versamune™-based vaccine in HPV-induced cancers and pre-cancer (late-stage cervical intraepithelial neoplasia).