Rhapsody Biologics (S) Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based startup launched in October 2009 using IP exclusively licensed from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), has licensed from Exploit Technologies – A*STAR’s marketing and commercialization arm – a portfolio of technologies to create a personalized peptide vaccine (PPV) platform. The technologies, expected to predict and optimize peptide vaccines for use at an individual and population level, were developed by Prof Ren Ee Chee at A*STAR’s Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN). The platform technology encompasses a high-throughput discovery system to identify immunogenic fragments of disease-causing agents that will stimulate an immune response.<\/p>\n
The PPV platform, based on validated experimental data incorporated into a proprietary computational rational design algorithm, has successfully predicted hepatitis B virus peptide binding with close to 100% accuracy. In comparison, the accuracy of other methods used in vaccine prediction ranges from 60% to 70%. Additionally, the technology can be used to create vaccines capable of universal coverage and eliminate the non-responder effect, which occurs in 10% to 20% of people who receive a conventional vaccine. Rhapsody is in talks with two major pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines based on the PPV platform. “We are focused on areas of unmet need in both prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines and will begin working with leading vaccine development companies later this year,” says Richard Kivel, Rhapsody’s chair and CEO.<\/p>\n