Pevion Biotech, the Swiss vaccine company, today announced that PEV7, the first vaccine for chronic recurrent thrush - recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) has entered Phase 1 clinical trial. PEV7 aims to provide relief for an estimated 3-6 % of women worldwide who suffer from this largely unrecognized but highly debilitating condition. PEV7 has already proven to be effective in clearing the infection and preventing recurrence in animal models, and first results from the Phase I trial are expected later this year. PEV7 is based on Pevion Biotech's proprietary virosome delivery technology in which antigens bind to the surface of a "hollowed-out" virus-like particle (VLP).
“Over-the-counter treatments work on the short term problem but there's nothing to stop it coming back. If the vaccine works it will be a miracle to the women who suffer”
According to CEO Thomas Stauffer, Pevion Biotech's technology offers an array of advantages: "Subunit virosome-based vaccines have already been clinically validated in a number of studies, proving to hit the "sweet spot" of enhanced tolerability combined with efficacy. They are also commercially validated through their use in two marketed products. Finally, manufacturing is a semi-synthetic process that is easy to scale up. With VVC and our other vaccine candidates PEV4 for RSV and PEV8 for influenza, we aim to demonstrate the potential high-reward applications of the virosome platform to both established and new players in the growing vaccine market."