AG-707 therapeutic genital herpes vaccine

An investigational product

What is AG-707?

AG-707 (rh-HSP70-PC) is an investigational therapeutic vaccine designed to target the virus that causes genital herpes (herpes simplex virus type 2, or HSV-2). Based on AG-702, an earlier vaccine that contained a single antigen from the genital herpes virus, AG-707 is a polyvalent (multiple-antigen) therapeutic vaccine that is designed to treat HSV-2 infection in a broad population of patients.

AG-707 is based on Antigenics’ heat shock protein (HSP) technology, and consists of a recombinant human heat shock protein (HSP) complexed with 32 synthetic peptides that are representative of the relevant sequences, both functionally and structurally, of various HSV-2 proteins. Because the majority of HSV-2 proteins are essentially the same in all infected patients, AG-707 does not require personalization and is designed to be a nonpersonalized HSP product (unlike Antigenics’ therapeutic cancer vaccines Oncophage and AG-858, which are patient-specific).

 Learn more about Antigenics’ HSP technology.

How does AG-707 work?

AG-707 is designed to target the HSP-peptide complexes to specialized immune cells so that the cells can take up the complexes, then present the antigenic peptides to the immune system. Presenting these peptides to the immune system is intended to activate both ‘helper’ and ‘killer’ T-cell responses against the genital herpes virus. This viral-specific immune response is meant not only to decrease the number of clinical outbreaks, but also to control and reduce the severity of infection.

 Learn more about the immune system.

Has AG-707 been tested in clinical trials?

Antigenics is currently evaluating AG-707 in a multicenter Phase 1 clinical trial. The dose-escalating study will involve up to 84 patients who are infected with HSV-2 and have a documented history of clinically active genital herpes. Researchers will evaluate safety and immune response to determine if AG-707 can reduce the frequency of symptom recurrence as well as the shedding of contagious viral particles during asymptomatic periods between outbreaks.

 Learn more about the Phase 1 trial of AG-707 in patients with genital herpes.
 Learn about clinical trials.
 Heat shock protein references