Scott Nicholas
Australia-based bioptechnology company Immuron has signed a partnership agreement with a U.S. Army-run biomedical research institute to research and develop a vaccine against shigella gram-negative bacteria that cause intestinal diseases.
Immuron and the the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research aim to produce a shigella vaccine for potential government, military and commercial applications, the company said Thursday.
“This partnership will potentially provide an additional tool to protect deployed forces and travelers to global areas where these pathogens are a major threat,” noted Robert Kaminski, WRAIR shigella vaccine task area leader.
The company and the institute plan to examine anti-Shigella specific activity of antibodies found in the travelers’ diarrhea drug Travelan.
They also aim to produce a Shigella specific bovine immunoglobulin product through the use of antigens from WRAIR and an oral immunotherapy system made by Immuron.
Immuron develops polyclonal antibody products for various immune mediated and inflammatory disorders that target the human gut immune system and gut microbiome.
