SEATTLE, Oct. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Orlance, Inc., an advancing biotech company based in Seattle, has been awarded National Institutions of Health (NIH) Fast Track Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant R44AI186932 to develop an Enhanced Seasonal Influenza Vaccine. This vaccine is intended to provide better protection against disease even in years when predicted vs. actual circulating strains are highly mismatched. The award includes $300,000 for Phase 1, with the total funding for the Phase 1 and 2 combined program amounting to $3.3 million. This Fast Track SBIR grant will enable Orlance to leverage its innovative MACH-1 powdered vaccine and immunotherapy platform to address both seasonally-changing and highly-conserved influenza immunogens in ways not possible with other platforms. The project aims to address the limitations of current flu vaccines by broadening the number of influenza strains that can be targeted within one vaccine, enabling vaccine production to occur closer to influenza season and achieve a better match between predicted and actual circulating strains, and by stimulating more diverse types of immune responses both in systemic and localized cells. Specifically, this program builds upon Orlance's universal influenza vaccine, which targets conserved antigens that remain consistent across multiple virus lineages, and adds seasonally changing influenza antigens to maximize protection.

The MACH-1 platform is a high-performance microparticle 'gene gun' technology that efficiently and uniquely delivers DNA or RNA vaccine-coated microparticles directly into cells in the epidermis, the uppermost layer of the skin. The epidermis is rich in immune stimulating cells. MACH-1 delivery harnesses this environment and the natural machinery of its immune cells to deliver DNA and RNA vaccines encoding proteins that trigger potent immunity including antibodies to block an infection and T cells that can eliminate infected cells. Unlike currently licensed mRNA vaccines, MACH-1-delivered vaccines are stable at room temperature and are painless and needle-free. Orlance MACH-1 vaccines also trigger protective levels of immunity with the smallest doses yet achieved within the field.

"The unique properties of MACH-1 delivery into the highly immune competent epidermis that generates potent systemic and local respiratory mucosal antibody- and T cell-mediated immunity, coupled with the large payload capacity of DNA vaccines, may allow for Orlance's universal influenza vaccine to excel where other universal vaccines have failed," explains Orlance Head of Research and Development and Principal Investigator, Kenneth Bagley, PhD.

"NIH's continued funding support of the MACH-1 platform including this enhanced seasonal influenza vaccine reinforces the potential impact and significant step forward MACH-1 can bring to vaccine technology," adds Kristyn Aalto, Orlance CEO. This award brings Orlance's SBIR funding total to $16.8M to advance next generation DNA and RNA vaccines and therapeutics. The company's ongoing research and development efforts continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in both vaccine and cancer immunotherapy science, with the ultimate goal of improving global health access and outcomes. Orlance was founded as a University of Washington spinout company in 2016 to develop the MACH-1 platform based on technology invented by Deborah Fuller, PhD, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Orlance plans to initiate Phase 1 clinical trials in 2026.

SOURCE Orlance