Orlance, Inc. Gene Gun Technology
Better Vaccines for a Wide Range of Viral Targets
“From our first introduction onward, Product Creation Studio provided engaged, interdisciplinary resources that quickly zeroed in on immediate and long-term needs and developed a solution plan that fit perfectly within our overall program. They efficiently delivered solutions that allowed us to both establish proof-of-concept and rapidly perform product screening and verification activities. ”
About Orlance, Inc.
Orlance, Inc. delivers better therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines for a wide range of viral targets. Current vaccines suffer from partial or short-lived effectivity, dosage limitations, poor targeting, needlestick pain, side effects, and production constraints. DNA vaccines aim to solve these problems but have been limited to date by inadequate delivery systems and formulations.
Orlance gene gun technology to deliver DNA vaccines has established proof-of-concept in clinical influenza studies and preclinical HIV/SIV models. The company is now optimizing delivery systems and formulations to bring forward commercial formats for both internally-formulated and partner-developed vaccines.
Product Challenge
DNA vaccines hold the promise of being cost-effective with rapid development and production along with stability in distribution. However, the challenge of how to introduce the DNA into the cells of the patient has slowed development. Orlance’s gene gun delivers a powdered vaccine containing select sequences of the viral DNA to the epidermal (skin) cells which increases the immune response while minimizing potential side effects. This opens up the possibility for new vaccine approaches.
The development of an effective, efficient, and easily-deployed gene gun delivery system is a key hurdle to commercialization. Previous systems have had difficulty moving from the lab to market with some point-of-care efforts abandoned by big pharmaceutical companies. With decades of gene gun experience, the Orlance team understands what is needed to overcome these challenges; but they needed commercialization support.
Why Orlance Chose Product Creation Studio
Orlance approached Product Creation Studio as their development partner to support the exploration and optimization of their gene gun technology. Orlance was looking for a provider that was passionate about the long-term vision and also understood the vagaries of technology translation from academia to commercial development. They also wanted a group that could flex to cover their anticipated range of needs which include architecture decisions, human factors considerations, custom lab instrumentation, and design for manufacture. Product Creation Studio was able to offer all this and more.
Product Creation Studio’s Role
The gene gun is a unique delivery mechanism with great promise but a dearth of data on performance factors related to effective use on animals. Product Creation Studio developed custom test equipment to quantify the gene gun target profile. We then worked with Orlance to explore the performance impact of alternate flow path designs, ultimately identifying a solution that greatly increased the effective dose delivery for the system. Product Creation Studio continues to work with Orlance on performance aspects of the system with the goal of improved performance for the active animal study work.
Project Results
Product Creation Studio delivered an automated measurement system that provided Orlance with a tool to consistently and effectively measure gene gun performance in vitro. This allowed Orlance to progress their research, publish studies, and obtain additional grant funding.
