TOVAx Vaccine

TOVAx Vaccine is a prophylactic vaccine candidate being developed by PAI Life Sciences in collaboration with the Onchocerciasis Vaccine for Africa (TOVA) Initiative for the prevention of onchocerciasis (river blindness), a neglected tropical disease caused by the parasitic filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus. The vaccine is composed of two recombinant parasite antigens, Ov-103 and Ov-RAL-2, which have also been formulated as a single recombinant fusion protein designated Ov-FUS-1. TOVAx is designed to target the infective third-stage larval (L3) stage of the parasite, preventing it from developing into adult worms that cause disease and sustain transmission. Preclinical studies in animal models, including mice, non-human primates, and cattle, have demonstrated that the vaccine induces protective, IgG-mediated immunity dependent on neutrophils and complement, significantly reducing larval survival and adult worm burdens.

Other names

TOVAx