Good start for coeliac disease vaccine

Dr Bob Anderson from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, has recently presented promising results from the Phase I trial of the world's first potential vaccine for coeliac disease. The study tested the safety, tolerability and bioactivity of the vaccine Nexvax2®. Based on this positive start, the drug is expected to move to Phase II trials within the 10 months.

In media relating to the presentation, Dr Anderson is reported to have said the vaccine would be suitable for treating coeliac disease patients with the DQ2 genetic form of coeliac disease.

During the Phase I study, coeliac patients received weekly injections of Nexvax2® for three weeks while maintaining a strict gluten-free diet. At the highest doses, some patients had gastrointestinal symptoms similar to what they'd experience after eating gluten products. Dr Anderson maintains this reaction indicates the vaccine uses the correct peptides for eventually being able to tolerate gluten.

In the Phase II trials the researchers hope to gain evidence to show patients treated with the vaccine become desensitised to the three specific peptides in gluten that have previously been identified as 'toxic' to people with coeliac disease. The ultimate aim is for the patients to be able to resume a normal diet and return to good health.

More information about the vaccine and the clinical trials can be found on the website www.nexpep.com