Reference number : GC-2017-Q4-01929, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : Wootton, K. Sarah (University of Guelph), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : Ontario, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Engage Grants for universities, program name french : Subventions d'engagement partenarial pour les universités, program purpose english : Viruses engineered to express antigens to promote a protective immune response against a particular pathogen_x000D_
(vaccine), or to deliver a therapeutic gene (gene therapy) or to treat cancer (oncolytic virotherapy) are essential_x000D_
tools used in the prevention and treatment of human and animal disease. However, a considerable impediment_x000D_
to the production of viruses as vaccines or therapeutic agents is the cost of manufacturing. The goal of this_x000D_
project is to test whether Phytoglycogen nanoparticle (PhG) technology from Mirexus can be used as a cell_x000D_
culture additive to dramatically increase viral vaccine vector production. Mirexus is a leading_x000D_
bio-nanomaterials company based in Ontario that produces phytoglycogen nanoparticles with valuable_x000D_
performance characteristics that are currently leveraged across a wide variety of personal care applications._x000D_
While traditionally PhG has been marketed to the cosmetic and food industries, Mirexus is rapidly developing_x000D_
PhG-based technologies for the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries. Preliminary results indicate that a_x000D_
proprietary modification of PhG (immune-modulating-PhG, IM-PhG) enhances in vitro virus production and_x000D_
this effect is conserved between cell lines derived from fish to humans and both aquatic and mammalian_x000D_
viruses, including a 1000-fold enhancement of influenza virus production. To grow their business and expand_x000D_
their applications platform, Mirexus is seeking to investigate whether IM-PhG can be used as a cell culture_x000D_
additive to boost production of viral vaccines. Although Mirexus has the expertise to synthesize and modify the_x000D_
PhG, they do not have the infrastructure (e.g. BSL 2 laboratory, access to viruses) or the virology expertise_x000D_
necessary to conduct these experiments. The purpose of this Engage grant is to facilitate collaboration between_x000D_
Mirexus and an academic virology lab that can evaluate whether the above mentioned enhancing effect extends_x000D_
to the production of Newcastle Disease Virus, an industrially important vaccine vector for animal health, in_x000D_
mammalian cells and embryonated eggs. As Mirexus is a Canadian company, expansion of its applications_x000D_
platform should lead to increased demand for this patented technology and more high tech jobs for Canadians., program purpose french : Viruses engineered to express antigens to promote a protective immune response against a particular pathogen_x000D_
(vaccine), or to deliver a therapeutic gene (gene therapy) or to treat cancer (oncolytic virotherapy) are essential_x000D_
tools used in the prevention and treatment of human and animal disease. However, a considerable impediment_x000D_
to the production of viruses as vaccines or therapeutic agents is the cost of manufacturing. The goal of this_x000D_
project is to test whether Phytoglycogen nanoparticle (PhG) technology from Mirexus can be used as a cell_x000D_
culture additive to dramatically increase viral vaccine vector production. Mirexus is a leading_x000D_
bio-nanomaterials company based in Ontario that produces phytoglycogen nanoparticles with valuable_x000D_
performance characteristics that are currently leveraged across a wide variety of personal care applications._x000D_
While traditionally PhG has been marketed to the cosmetic and food industries, Mirexus is rapidly developing_x000D_
PhG-based technologies for the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries. Preliminary results indicate that a_x000D_
proprietary modification of PhG (immune-modulating-PhG, IM-PhG) enhances in vitro virus production and_x000D_
this effect is conserved between cell lines derived from fish to humans and both aquatic and mammalian_x000D_
viruses, including a 1000-fold enhancement of influenza virus production. To grow their business and expand_x000D_
their applications platform, Mirexus is seeking to investigate whether IM-PhG can be used as a cell culture_x000D_
additive to boost production of viral vaccines. Although Mirexus has the expertise to synthesize and modify the_x000D_
PhG, they do not have the infrastructure (e.g. BSL 2 laboratory, access to viruses) or the virology expertise_x000D_
necessary to conduct these experiments. The purpose of this Engage grant is to facilitate collaboration between_x000D_
Mirexus and an academic virology lab that can evaluate whether the above mentioned enhancing effect extends_x000D_
to the production of Newcastle Disease Virus, an industrially important vaccine vector for animal health, in_x000D_
mammalian cells and embryonated eggs. As Mirexus is a Canadian company, expansion of its applications_x000D_
platform should lead to increased demand for this patented technology and more high tech jobs for Canadians., agreement title english : Evaluating immuno-modulatory phytoglycogen nanoparticles for enhanced production of newcastle disease virus, agreement title french : Evaluating immuno-modulatory phytoglycogen nanoparticles for enhanced production of newcastle disease virus, agreement number : EGP, agreement value : 24984.0, agreement start date : 2018-03-07, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019)., additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier (2017-2018 à 2018-2019)., owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada