The Regional Council of the Nord-Pas de Calais region, Inserm, Wallonie Bruxelles International, the Université de Liège and Eurogentec held the third steering committee meeting of the Bilhvax 3 Project on October 6th at the Château de Colonster in Liège.

This third Bilhvax 3 Steering Committee Meeting was the opportunity to assess the project progress, in the presence of politicians, scientists, technicians and financial partners involved in the project.

Since June 2007, the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm) has been the sponsor of a clinical trial conducted in Senegal to prove the effectiveness of a bilharziasis vaccine. This disease is the second most widespread parasitic infection in the world, after malaria, and primarily affects populations in developing countries. Over 200 million people are chronically suffering and 300000 die from the disease each year. Only few treatments against bilharziasis exist. The praziquantel, the treatment used until now does not protect against re-infection. But this re-infection is usually very quick as it is caused by the presence of big larvas in the water which is necessary for domestic, agricultural and play activities. This is why such a vaccine is so important and expected impatiently by the populations suffering from this parasitosis, the WHO and all health organisations of the infected regions.

The Bilhvax 3 clinical study is the result of many years of experimental research in the laboratory, as well as preliminary clinical evaluations. It is the final stage in the development of the vaccine candidate Bilhvax. The clinical trial, which meets extremely rigorous scientific, ethical and regulatory standards, is evaluating the vaccine’s therapeutic efficacy in children who have previously contracted bilharziasis. The Bilhvax vaccine should eventually limit the dramatic pathological consequences of this infection. If the results are conclusive, the vaccine may be made available to countries affected by bilharziasis at the end of this clinical trial.

Bilhvax 3, a unique, innovative project, is the result of a decentralised, cooperative effort with support from government funding. A far-reaching project based on international solidarity and scientific research, Bilhvax 3 is supported by the Regional Council of the Nord-Pas de Calais region, many partners from the public and private sectors in France and Senegal, Wallonie Bruxelles International and the Principality of Monaco.

This clinical research programme is supported by the International Relations department of the Walloon region at the level of 300 000 €. Since 1995, Eurogentec and the scientists of Lille and of Senegal have pooled their skills to determine the production methods of the recombinant parasite protein to realise the first clinical studies with the support of the European community. For the needs of the Phase III clinical trials, Eurogentec’s R&D laboratories have recently improved the manufacturing and quality control processes. At the end of 2008, the industrial scale up was realised and the GMP vaccine was delivered during March 2009.

EUROGENTEC is a biotechnology company located in Liège with one of its business units specialised in the GMP production of recombinant proteins designed for therapeutic use in human medicine.

EUROGENTEC, in collaboration with Inserm, is proud to have been chosen once again as the BILHVAX vaccine producer for the clinical phase III trials in Senegal.


Contact
Isabelle Body, Communication Manager, Eurogentec
i.body@eurogentec.com
Tél. : +32 (0)4 372 74 60
Mobile: +32 (0)474 45 27 12