The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) has donated funds of up to EUR 1.2 million towards the development of a vaccination against hypertension.
The vaccine is under investigation by Viennese biotech company AFFiRiS AG, and will be based on the company’s AFFITOME technology, in addition to AFFiRiS’s other vaccines under development for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and atherosclerosis.
The vaccine is targeting angiotensin II, a peptide hormone that can cause narrowing of the blood vessels and thereby hypertension.
Dr Walter Schmidt, CEO of AFFiRiS AG, commented: “With projects in seven different indications at the moment, AFFiRiS AG has achieved a broad diversification of potential development risks. While building up this pipeline, we were consequently guided by our strategic focus, which is targeting disease areas with very large numbers of patients and lack of optimal therapies.”
The unique AFFITOME platform technology allows the generation of vaccines targeting autologous structures such as proteins and peptides. With Angiotensin II, AFFiRiS AG is addressing a human hormone for the first time.
CSO Dr Frank Mattner said: “Although chronic hypertension can be treated with drugs, the patient has to be precisely attuned to them and must then take medication constantly, which often doesn’t work out. Our vaccine is intended to lower the burden of strictly following this medication dictate, thereby contributing to ensuring lasting success.”
AFFiRiS develops tailor-made peptide vaccines against Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and four other conditions of urgent medical need.
In October 2008, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals became the licence partner for AFFiRiS’s Alzheimer’s vaccine and will pay the company milestone payments of up to EUR 430 million.