Neovacs: Active immunity

Normally, the human immune system cannot recognize cytokines on its own because during early development it loses the ability to attack them. But sometimes it is desirable to temporarily harness the immune system to recognize and destroy cytokines. Indeed, an indicator of this is the array of antibodies marketed or in development targeting cytokines such as TNF-alpha to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Crohn's disease, IL-4 for asthma, and VEGF for cancer.

With this in mind, Neovacs S.A. is using its vaccine expertise to develop "active immunization," a technique to stimulate the immune system and mount temporary responses against overproduced cytokines. Neovacs hopes its approach will offer advantages over monoclonal antibodies, including greater efficacy and ease of use...