Clearing latency,
preventing CMV disease
Cytomegalovirus is a highly prevalent herpesvirus, with 40 to 80% of the adults having encountered a primary CMV infection in their life, depending on the geographical location. Like other herpesviruses, CMV establishes a harmless but life-long latent infection, hiding with low frequency in monocytes and hematopoietic stem cells. Occasionally, a fraction of these latently infected cells gets reactivated. In healthy individuals, such secondary infections are rapidly dealt with by the immune systems. However, in cases where the immune system is suppressed, for example in stem cell or organ transplantation, reactivation of latently infected cells can cause major health issues.
Vunthera is developing a therapeutic antibody that binds a CMV protein expressed on the surface of latently infected cells. Binding of the antibody changes the appearance of these cells, unmasking the culprits and allowing the immune system to rapidly eliminate them. We have shown ex vivo (using blood from healthy volunteers) that our lead molecule can completely remove the reservoir of latently infected monocytes by the individuals own CMV-reactive T-cells.
The next step will be to test our approach in CMV positive patients eligible for stem cell or organ transplantation.
Eliminating the latency reservoir before suppression of a patient’s immune system is expected to significantly reduce post-transplant CMV-related health risks.
contact: info@vunthera.com