vaccine

Preventing Cancer with a Vaccine w/ Stephen Johnston of Calviri

- BRT S04 EP17 (179) 4-23-2023

Things We Learned This Week

• Calviri is working on a Vaccine to PREVENT Cancer, currently largest animal clinical trial
• Inflammation - starting points of bad cells
• Cancer - bad cells replicate
• Could Prevent other diseases & extend longevity of people's lives - ex.- help w/ dementia
• Tumors make bad proteins
• Calviri vaccine works on RNA (proteins) kills tumor, & arms immune system

Guest: Stephen Johnston
Founding CEO, Calviri Inc.

LKIN: HERE

https://calviri.com/

Bio:

Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board

Stephen Albert Johnston is the inventor of the Calviri’s central technologies. In addition to Calviri, he has been a founder of Eliance, Inc. (Macrogenics), Synbody Biotechnology and HealthTell, Inc. He is Director of the Arizona State University Biodesign Institute’s Center for Innovations in Medicine and Professor in the School of Life Sciences. He has published almost 200 peer-reviewed papers and holds 45 patents. Prior to his appointment at ASU he was Professor and Director of the Center for Biomedical Inventions at UT-Southwestern Medical Center and Professor of Biology and Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. He is a member of the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Johnston received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin.

Calviri Inc.

We are determined to offer humanity a better life, free from cancer. While our goal is hugely ambitious, we are intensely driven to rid the planet of worry from cancer.

Calviri’s mission is to provide affordable products worldwide that will end deaths from cancer. We are a fully integrated healthcare company developing a broad spectrum of vaccines and companion diagnostics that prevent and treat cancer for those either at risk or diagnosed. We focus on using frameshift neoantigens derived from errors in RNA processing to provide pioneering products against cancer. The company is a spin out of the Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, located in Phoenix, AZ. We have the largest dog vaccine trial in the world underway at three premier veterinary universities. The five-year trial will assess the performance of a preventative cancer vaccine.

Notes: 

Seg. 1

Calviri working to develop a vaccine to prevent cancer, not cure, but prevent.

You would take the vaccine like any other vaccine.

Currently testing a largest clinical trial of 800 dogs. They are in year 3 of a 5 year trial.  Dr. Johnston has been working on this for 15 years thus far. 

There will be 2 phases, with Phase 1 being animal testing to create a dog vaccine. This is a $3 – 5 billion industry. Next year, Calviri wants to launch with FDA approval. 

Phase 2 is Human clinical trials. These will be Therapeutic trials, working on treating cancer. 

The Best Part of Calviri’s research and vaccine is it could prevent other diseases also.

In turn give more longevity of life for people, and maybe cure dementia.

Inflammation is the starting point.

Defined: localized physical condition in which part of the body becomes reddened, swollen, hot, and often painful, especially as a reaction to injury or infection. 

In a normal inflammatory response, immune cells produce chemicals that can kill a pathogen. These chemicals, known as reactive oxygen species, can also damage the DNA of normal cells, which increases the risk of mutations that could lead to cancer.

Bad cells or zombie cells are put out.

Bad stuff, don’t die, cause inflammation to other cells

Cancer is when bad cells replicate uncontrollably.

Sometimes this orderly process breaks down, and abnormal or damaged cells grow and multiply when they shouldn't. These cells may form tumors, which are lumps of tissue. Tumors can be cancerous or not cancerous (benign). 

It can also cause bone dysfunction.

Tumor is a normal cell, not part of a community like infection

Body is made up of tissues and cells (community or tightly packed group of cells).

All cells experience changes with aging. They become larger and are less able to divide and multiply. Among other changes, there is an increase in pigments and fatty substances inside the cell (lipids). Many cells lose their ability to function, or they begin to function abnormally. 

A person’s Immune system fixes the community of cells & wipes out ‘rogue’ tumors.

Seg. 2 

Stephen Johnston’s background,  trained in science, and also an inventor with a degree in bio chemistry. Was working at UT Southwest Medical Center in Dallas, TX.

Started working at ASU about 15 years ago to develop what would become the Calviri research. ASU supporting the Calviri patent. 

Started Calviri Inc. circa 2018. It was a spun out patent & I.P. to Calviri, with an exclusive license to Calviri. ASU owns no equity which is unusual.

Gets % of profits – did not invest

Venture Capital or VC wants equity in any deal they invest in. They also do not want any Universities having ownership as it complicates a deal.

Calviri Board has 6 members, with a few members also providing funding, this is an  uncommon setup. Calviri Stock in all common

One of the board members is the former CEO of Humana 

$2 Bill –

Open Philanthropy is a philanthropic funder. Our mission is to help others as much as we can with the resources available to us. Our main funders are Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook and Asana. This organization is providing funding for health companies. 

High risk – 2019 - $6 5 mil 

Calviri 4/2023 Worldwide MKT – affordable

Seg. 3 

Clinical trial phase, do hundreds of trials

Common treatment for a person who has cancer, create a Personalized cancer vaccine with an estimated cost of $100k

DNA sequencing is done, and that treatment is for that person only

Calviri mission is to create an off the shelf & affordable product

Stepping stone in medicine development, goes from therapeutic to prevention

Moderna, one of the big phrama companies that made the Covid vaccine 

MRNA Vaccine

Survey blood w/ stage 1 or 3 cancer, search for commonalities

Intel chip system being used in bio chemistry machines. Intel says its processors are behind efforts to find new breakthroughs in life sciences research and healthcare in a number of countries.

It took 10 years of work to test blood

DNA transcription produces a single-stranded RNA molecule that is complementary to one strand of DNA. In the first step, the information in DNA is transferred to a messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule by way of a process called transcription.

Processing mistakes at the RNA level 

Reduced to pieces to become 

Proteins – tumor makes bad protein, which looks like a inflection

Takes pieces of bad protein & make a vaccine, then Inject the vaccine & kill the tumor

Teach your body, arm the immune system before foreign particle are created

Pre-emptively give vaccine before there is any cancer cells

Seg. 4

The common theme of Calviri is simplicity. There are simple ways to do x.

Everyone said it’s complicated to treat cancer. There are 200 types of cancer.

Calviri is working to have a big impact, plus make their vaccine simple & affordable.

They believe the logical solution is vaccines.

They have shown to prevent cancer in their trials with dogs.

Trial –

Find the common traits. As the expression goes: The light is better under lamppost.

Common research is done on DNA to learn about Cancer. A person with Cancer has their DNA mapped out and the treatment created is for them only.

The harder method is to look at RNA.

Found parts in tumor – foreign

1 preventive vaccine working with ‘common’ traits in RNA, there are 40 component pieces of proteins. There hundreds (100s) of uncommon traits

Immune system has sensor cells

Immune system response, it will identify foreign cells & destroy them

Auto ‘self’ immune disease - attacks all cells

Good cells – working too well, and attacking non bad cells

When we age, it is common for the immune system to break down. This make people more prone to cancer, or other diseases.

Anti-Aging is a topic getting attention and funding. Jeff Bezos has invested in Altos Labs. Altos is pursuing biological reprogramming technology, a way to rejuvenate cells in the lab that some scientists think could be extended to revitalize entire animal bodies, ultimately prolonging human life.

Thanks to Joan Kerber-Walker of Az Bio for the intro to Stan.

AZ Bio & Life Sciences Innovation w/ Joan Koerber-Walker

- BRT S04 EP10 (172) 3-5-2023

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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