Nventa has developed a unique, proprietary technology platform that harnesses the immunostimulatory powers of heat shock proteins to trigger the immune system to recognize specific diseases.  Its CoVal™ fusions use  recombinant DNA technology to fuse, or covalently link, a heat shock protein with a protein antigen to create a single hybrid protein, also referred to as a therapeutic vaccine or immunotherapeutic, designed to recognize that antigen.

Immunization with CoVal™ fusions results in the induction of potent immune responses against the disease-specific antigen contained in the fusion protein. Thus, CoVal™ fusions represent a new and highly effective vaccine platform. Nventa researchers and collaborators have demonstrated that immunization with CoVal™ fusions triggers antigen-specific cellular immune responses, in particular, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) with an associated production of cytokines such as interferon-g and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). This spectrum of immune responses, referred to as “Type 1” immunity, is ideally suited for the eradication of virus-infected or cancerous cells. CoVal™ fusions, therefore, represent a new platform for the creation of therapeutic vaccines for chronic viral infections and cancer.

See Flash animation demonstrating CoVal™ Fusion action 

About Human Papillomavirus

CoValTM Fusions and HspE7 (PDF)