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Rhinovirus

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Rhinoviruses are small positive-sense, non-enveloped RNA viruses that are the major cause of upper respiratory infection, i.e. the common cold, in all age groups. The incubation period is 2 to 3 days and acute symptoms last for 3 to 7 days. The common cold costs the U.S. economy $40 billion a year in treatments and lost workdays. There are approximately 500 million colds each year in the U.S. Cold suffers visit their physician more than 100 million times a year at a cost of at least $7.7 billion. The biggest economic cost is with lost workdays costing $22.5 billion. In addition, the multitude of physician visits and prescribing of antibiotics, which are not effective against viral agents, is problematic exacerbating the development of antibiotic resistant pathogens. Rhinoviruses enter cells via attachment to Intracellular Adhesion Molecule –1 (ICAM-1). The viral capsid is made up of capsid subunits VP1, VP2, and VP3 proteins. These proteins form a canyon region that binds the ICAM-1 receptor.

The difficulty with generating vaccines or therapeutic antibodies against rhinoviruses is that there are 102 accepted, classified serotypes with potentially more that have yet to be classified. Despite the multitude of serotypes, all rhinoviruses interact with ICAM-1 implying some conserved functional motif that is not targetable via conventional approaches. BMI’s Immune Dampening and Refocusing Technology can address the multiple serotype issue such that broadly reactive immune responses and therapeutic antibodies can be made. BMI’s rhinovirus program parallels its veterinary program in Foot and Mouth Disease Virus, a highly related picornavirus.

For further information, please contact: Dr. Gregory J. Tobin:  tobin@bmi-md.com

Research & Development

pone_0020130_g003Globally, influenza is responsible for 250,000 to 500,000 deaths annually and is considered one of the most important respiratory pathogens of humans. In the majority of the past ten years, H3N2 has dominated in prevalence of infection and disease over H1N1, H2N2, and influenza B. In the United States alone, approximately 5–20% of the population contracts influenza illnesses leading to about 240,000 hospitalizations and 40,000 deaths with the majority due to H3N2. In addition to morbidity and mortality, influenza causes an annual economic impact in the range of $80B in this country alone. Click here to learn more .

Company News

blk triangleFall 2012: BMI has been awarded a contract from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine.
blk triangleSpring 2012: BMI announces award of a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Exploration Poliovirus Eradication program.
blk triangleJune 2011: BMI announces collaborative research agreement with Crucell-BV for development of a universal influenza vaccine
blk triangleNov. 2010: BMI announces collaborative research agreement with GSK-Biologicals for development of an immune refocused vaccine for respiratory infection
blk triangleSept 2010: BMI is awarded a Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Award
blk triangleJune 2010: BMI is awarded a Small Business Innovative Research Grant from the NIH for vaccine development
blk triangleNov. 2009: BMI is a prime contractor in the Fundamentals of Biology Program of DARPA/DSO for the study of modularity in biological systems