Biopharmaceutical company BlueWillow Biologics reported on Tuesday the receipt of the US patent for the development of an intranasal NanoVax herpes simplex virus (HSV) vaccine.

The company added that the patent, which has been assigned the US patent number 10,206,996, protects the use of its unique NanoVax adjuvant platform in the development of a vaccine that provides protection against HSV-1 and HSV-2, the two viruses that can cause genital herpes.

According to the company, the intranasal NanoVax platform elicits both mucosal and systemic immunity through its novel oil-in-water nanoemulsion (NE) adjuvant, offering a unique advantage to combat sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including genital herpes.

In conjunction, the mucosal immunity elicited by intranasal NE vaccines provides critical protection against infections at the port of entry by which a pathogen enters the body. The vaccine is expected to deliver therapeutic and preventive protection.

Additionally, the intranasal NanoVax HSV vaccine has demonstrated safety and efficacy in both prophylactic and therapeutic animal models for genital herpes. In a prophylactic guinea pig study, the intranasal vaccine prevented genital herpes infection in 92% of animals vaccinated. Therapeutic study animals previously infected with genital herpes who received the company's vaccine reduced recurrent lesions and viral shedding by more than 50% versus the animals who received no treatment.