Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
BioNTech Reports Breakthrough In Treating Multiple Sclerosis With Another MRNA Vaccine
TheWeek: Vaccine Maker BioNTech Reports Potential Multiple Sclerosis Breakthrough
BioNTech, the German biotechnology company that paired with Pfizer to develop the first COVID-19 vaccine approved in the U.S., reports in the journal Science that a new vaccine using the same mRNA technique has proved effective in treating or stopping multiple sclerosis in lab mice. MS is caused not by a virus but by the immune system malfunctioning and attacking the protective covering of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, disrupting signals between those cells and their targets in the body, causing neurological, sensory, and motor issues. BioNTech said it successfully encoded MS-specific autoantigens that, when delivered via its experimental vaccine, stopped MS symptoms in mice bred with a condition mirroring MS in humans, and prevented further deterioration in mice with early signs of MS. Mice given a placebo showed typical MS symptoms. (1/12)
FierceBiotech: BioNTech CEO Applies COVID-19 Vaccine's MRNA Tech To Multiple Sclerosis
In mice with autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a model for human MS, the team found that the vaccine was processed by lymphoid antigen-presenting cells without triggering a systemic inflammatory immune response, even when delivered at very high antigen concentrations. It did not impair the animals' ability to launch a protective immune response. The vaccine blocked all clinical signs of MS in mice, while control animals experienced the typical symptoms of the disease. (Liu, 1/7)
New York Daily News: BioNTech Achieves Breakthrough In Multiple Sclerosis Vaccine
Existing treatments typically “work by systemically suppressing the immune system,” Angus Liu writes in Fierce Biotech. “That can control MS, but it also leaves patients vulnerable to infections.” BioNTech’s vaccine did not compromise normal immune function. The researchers said their findings suggest that mRNA vaccines, which can be developed quickly, could soon be used to treat “disease-causing antigens of individual patients.”(Schladebeck, 1/12)
Yahoo Finance: BioNTech, Firm Behind Pfizer's COVID-19 Jab, Develops Potential Vaccine For Multiple Sclerosis
With the MS vaccine, the mRNA technology stops the body's immune system from attacking neurons in the brain and spinal cord which can lead to the loss of bodily function. Clinical trials on mice revealed the jab not only stopped the disease from progressing but restored some motor skills which had been lost. (Riaz, 1/13)
