iVAX

iCubed has access to proprietary, state-of-the-art computer-based informatics tools to make vaccines the smart way: faster, and potentially safer, than traditional methods. These tools can also be used design safer protein therapeutics. This work is supported by an NIH U19 grant # A1082642-01

Our Technology and Current Projects

1. The EpiMatrix suite of immunoinformatics tools: allows prediction of T cell Epitopes, peptides that generate an immune response.

2. Tolerized anti-DEC 205: A new delivery system for vaccines.

3. Vaccines against Hepatitis C Virus for liver cancer.

4. Vaccines against Tick-Borne Diseases.

5. Vaccines against H.pylori infection for stomach cancer.

6. Multipathogen vaccines for bio-defense.

A Vaccine and Diagnostic Design Toolkit

The team at EpiVax, Inc., led by Dr. Annie De Groot and Bill Martin, has pioneered the development of a set of immunoinformatics tools which allows researchers to predict the immunogenicity of peptides and proteins. The potential applications of this technology are vast: for instance, one could be to predict which vaccines will be most effective or which protein therapeutic drugs will have the possibility of eliciting an adverse immune response. It is a powerful research and development tool for designing effective and safe protein/peptide based therapeutics.

The leaders of EpiVax, Inc. have been resolute in availing these tools to the research community. To that end, Dr. De Groot and her team, with funding from an NIH U19 grant, has developed the iVax website where investigators can access their own set of genome sequences, proteins of interest, and tools for the analysis of vaccines and diagnostics. The iVax website is currently being developed with distinct sites for each of the U19 CCHI collaborators where their specific immunoinformatics research projects can be carried out. iVax will be further expanded so that collaborators working in the area of neglected tropical diseases will also have access to the site and its suite of immunoinformatics tools. In addition, the tools are available to URI and Lifespan collaborators who are researching vaccine design for hepatitis C virus, tick-borne diseases, h.pylori infection and bio-defense. The opportunities available with these tools are endless. 

iVAX
iVAX
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