May 8, 2024

Seek Labs announces successful completion of ASFV in vivo trial utilising CRISPR-based treatments

US-based healthcare firm Seek Labs has announced the successful completion of a therapeutic trial using innovative CRISPR-based technologies to target the African swine fever virus (ASFV) in swine.

The trial, which aimed to replicate and expand an earlier trial, demonstrated swine infected with ASFV and treated with Seek Labs’ CRISPR-based systems survived longer than untreated infected swine. Over half of the CRISPR-treated swine survived beyond the duration of the trial. Observations and data from both studies reveal compelling outcomes where treatment prolonged lifespans of infected swine compared to control groups.

Seek Labs is developing CRISPR-based systems that selectively target pathogenic diseases, including viral infections. This approach disrupts viral replication, slows progress of an infection, and allows treated animals to mount an immune response that can lead to extended survival and even potentially achieve curative outcomes.

Dr Doug Gladue, PhD, an internationally recognised leader in ASFV research and vaccine development, said that this is a breakthrough discovery. He said these are excellent results that indicate the potential to dramatically increase survivability in swine against ASFV infection and treat other animal diseases.

Seek Labs recognises the potential of CRISPR to tackle infectious diseases across species. The company initially demonstrated their CRISPR-based systems reduce viral load in vivo using a Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp model infected with White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV). These proof-of-concept studies consistently achieved approximately 80% reduction in viral load as validated by qPCR. This outcome correlated with moderate extension in survival times for CRISPR-treated infected shrimp relative to untreated infected shrimp and prompted further anti-viral testing of the CRISPR technology platform.

Seek Labs expanded evaluation of the CRISPR-based systems as anti-viral modalities in swine infected with ASFV. To this end, the company launched independent in vivo trials. Due to strict regulations in the US that limit African swine fever (ASF) research, Seek Labs conducted the trials overseas in a region where ASF is currently endemic in domestic swine.

Alison O’Mahony, vice president of Pharmaceutical Research at Seek Labs, said CRISPR is a highly adaptable gene targeting technology that holds enormous potential as a therapeutic modality across genomes, and their CRISPR platform leverages Cas systems and multiplexed gRNAs to selectively target pathogenic genomes.

-      Seek Labs