Winter Food Poisoning Norovirus Infection... Domestic Companies Enter Vaccine Development

Norovirus Spreading from November to April
No Vaccine Yet

Bio Venture Company Intera Approaches Phase 1 Clinical Trial

During the cold winter season, concerns about norovirus infection, a type of food poisoning, increase. However, a vaccine to prevent it has not yet been developed. In South Korea, the bio venture company Intera is stepping up to develop a norovirus vaccine.

Norovirus

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 18th, the number of reported norovirus infection cases increased about twofold over five weeks: 29 cases in the 42nd week (October 15?21), 31 cases in the 43rd week (October 22?28), 41 cases in the 44th week (October 29?November 4), 49 cases in the 45th week (November 5?11), and 57 cases in the 46th week (November 12?18). By age group, children aged 0?6 accounted for the highest proportion at 38.6%, followed by those aged 65 and older at 20.3%, 7?18 years at 15.9%, and 19?64 years at 12.6%. This virus mainly spreads from November through April of the following year.

Norovirus enters the human body through ingestion of contaminated water, seafood, or other food, or through contact with infected individuals. Symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea appear within 12 to 48 hours of infection, and abdominal pain, chills, and fever may also occur. The virus is highly contagious and can survive even below freezing temperatures, making reinfection easy. In South Korea, norovirus infection outbreaks became a social issue during the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

Although the need for a vaccine is high, norovirus cannot be cultured in cells, making it difficult to develop traditional virus-based vaccines such as live attenuated vaccines or inactivated vaccines. Recently, development has been trending toward forms like ‘viral vector vaccines’ and ‘mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines.’

Domestically, Intera is leading the development of a norovirus vaccine. Intera has developed a trivalent (GII.4, GII.17, GII.3) virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine candidate derived from Escherichia coli (E. coli). The method involves producing highly pure and uniform VLPs free of cell-derived impurities through in vitro self-assembly under optimized conditions after final purification of the antigen protein. The company is preparing to enter Phase 1 clinical trials through an Investigational New Drug (IND) application approval.

Choi Deok-young, CEO of Intera, explained, “Intera’s norovirus food poisoning prevention VLP-type multivalent vaccine features high efficacy and low side effects because the protein antigen is purified and assembled outside the cells, resulting in high purity of the final VLP.” He added, “There are various challenges such as the emergence of diverse genotypes and variants of norovirus and the limited animal experimental models to evaluate the protective efficacy of developed vaccines. Solutions to these obstacles are necessary.” He continued, “We will overcome these challenges to showcase the excellence of domestic vaccine companies to the world and strive to develop vaccines that contribute to safe and healthy lives for humanity.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.