MVA-BN®
MVA-BN® (Modified vaccinia Ankara - Bavarian Nordic) is
Bavarian Nordic's proprietary and patented technology. Since 1999,
the company has shown MVA-BN® to be one of the safest
multivalent vaccine vectors for the development of vaccines against
infectious diseases and cancer.
MVA-BN® is used in most of the group's development programmes
against smallpox, cancer, and infectious diseases.
MVA-BN®'s potential reaches well-beyond the company's current
focus.
Clinical Experience with MVA-BN®
MVA-BN® is to-date the best characterised MVA strain in terms
of efficacy and safety in humans, including in high-risk groups
(i.e, those suffering from atopic dermatitis and HIV
infection).
MVA-BN® is under clinical evaluation by Bavarian Nordic in a
total of 14 completed, or ongoing trials as a smallpox vaccine.
More than 3,400 individuals have been vaccinated with
MVA-BN®-based vaccines, demonstrating high immunogenicity and
at the same time, no serious adverse reactions.
Safety Profile of MVA-BN®
The strong safety profile of MVA-BN® is due to the
virus' inability to replicate in a vaccinated individual. The
replication cycle is blocked at a very late stage which ensures
that new viruses are not generated and released. This means that
the virus cannot spread in the vaccinated person and side-effects,
normally associated with replicating vaccinia viruses, do not
appear with MVA-BN®. Studies with MVA-BN® in
immune-compromised individuals have also confirmed its safety and
immunogenicity profile, making MVA-BN®-based vaccines suitable
for the development of vaccines for immune-compromised
populations.
Efficacy profile of MVA-BN®
MVA-BN® induces a strong cellular (CTL) as well as humoral
(antibody) immune response. MVA-BN® is ideally suited for
homologous prime/boost regimens because of its ability to elicit an
immune response even in individuals with pre-existing immunity
against vaccinia. Such regimes consist of an initial vaccination
(prime) followed by another vaccination (boost) using the same
vaccine. In contrast to heterologous vaccine regimes, which use
different types of vaccine technologies, vaccination with
MVA-BN® is much simpler and easier to develop and license.
MVA-BN® can be applied safely and repeatedly in cases where
follow-up vaccinations might be required, such as is the practice
with therapeutic vaccines.
