Novel Malaria Vaccine Collaboration Announced by Protein Potential LLC and Aduro BioTech Inc.

ROCKVILLE, Md. & BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Protein Potential LLC and Aduro BioTech, Inc. have been awarded a Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop two novel malaria vaccines that will be administered in a sequential regimen. Both individual vaccines stimulate immune responses that target the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) antigen of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for nearly all malaria deaths. The novel regimen is designed to induce the spectrum of immune responses that is believed to be essential for long-lasting protection against malaria.

“The partnership with Aduro is an exciting opportunity to explore the synergy of these two approaches to stimulate immunity and move rapidly to the clinic with a malaria vaccine”

Protein Potential, as project leader, will use its expertise in the production of high-quality recombinant proteins to produce CSP that will be combined with one or more adjuvants. Aduro will use its platform technology based on live-attenuated Listeria monocytogenes to engineer a strain that expresses recombinant CSP. Together, the vaccines will stimulate both humoral and cellular immune responses. The goal of the collaboration is to develop a heterologous prime-boost regimen that will be tested in human clinical trials.

“The partnership with Aduro is an exciting opportunity to explore the synergy of these two approaches to stimulate immunity and move rapidly to the clinic with a malaria vaccine,” states Dr. B. Kim Lee Sim, the Founder and President of Protein Potential.

Stephen Isaacs, Chairman and CEO of Aduro BioTech, Inc., adds, “The collaboration with Protein Potential and its sister company, Sanaria Inc., combine outstanding technology with world-class translational medicine. We foresee an accelerated path to the clinic.”

About Protein Potential

Protein Potential’s R&D program is focused on vaccine development for infectious diseases including Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria, anthrax, plague, and shigella. Protein Potential combines expertise in protein expression, process development, and documentation with the technical know-how to transition candidate vaccines through large-scale cGMP manufacturing. In addition, the company develops and conducts assays required to release vaccines for clinical use and assess the immunogenicity of candidate vaccines in human subjects. Protein Potential’s Products and Services group provides high quality recombinant proteins and DNA constructs to corporate, government, and academic clients. The company’s administrative, laboratory, and production facilities are located in Rockville, Maryland. Additional information about Protein Potential is available at the company’s web site http://www.proteinpotential.com/. Except for historical information, this news release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risk and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements made. These forward-looking statements are further qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

About Aduro BioTech, Inc.

Aduro is advancing multiple therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases based on its proprietary attenuated Listeria monocytogenes vaccine platforms. The company is also advancing a new program towards clinical evaluation that utilizes targeted small molecule immune modulators that have broad application for vaccine design. The company's Listeria platform has been validated by 26 publications that illustrate the platform's unique combination of safety and potency and by more than $24 million in federal and private grant and contract funding. In addition, the company has multiple patents issued in the U.S., Europe and throughout the world that broadly protect its proprietary and clinical applications. The company’s lead therapeutic, CRS-207, is currently being evaluated in a randomized, controlled Phase 2 trial in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.