Evaxion have developed four different AI platforms for therapeutic development: PIONEER and ObsERV, focusing on immuno-oncology, and EDEN and RAVEN, which are for vaccines for infectious diseases. In this presentation, Gry Persson, Project Manager, Evaxion Biotech, talked us through the EDEN and RAVEN platforms
EDEN identifies protective B cell antigens to protect against extracellular pathogen infection. The platform takes any bacterial or viral proteome as an input and uses AI to produce a ranking list of novel protective proteins. This list is then narrowed down to the 20-30 highest ranked proteins which are then tested in both in vitro and in vivo models. Then the team performs an optimisation step: combining antigens, testing different adjuvants and modalities, and finally CMC readiness before they have their final determined product.
The platform has been retrospectively validated for Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS), as well as preclinically validated in a number of species of bacteria. EDEN has led to two product candidates, EVX-B1 for Staphylococcus aureus infection, and EVX-B2 for Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection.
RAVEN was built for pathogens that have infected cells, such as viruses. This platform identifies functional T cell epitopes to activate CD8+ T cells to target and kill infected cells. They can also activate CD4+ T cells to aid in humoral and cellular immune response.
Viral genomic and proteomic data are inputted into the RAVEN’s neural network, EvaxMHC which scans through the sequences of proteins to identify MHC ligand-rich ‘hotspot’ regions. The platform then gives you the choice to incorporate different features like ligand classes 1 and 2, HLA coverage, and viral strain coverage. RAVEN then finds the best combination of hotspots based on the user requirements.
The platform can design vaccines within hours compared to the years it takes to gather data from infected patients. HLA matched predictions allow targeting human populations when relevant in outbreaks or for the design of global vaccines. RAVEN, being more focused on intracellular pathogens, currently has one candidate, EVX-V1 for Cytomegalovirus (CMV).
