Over 25 years, vaccinologists, bioinformatics experts, and advanced programmers at EpiVax have developed an integrated, web-based toolkit for computational vaccine design called iVAX™. The toolkit enables the discovery and optimization of the T cell epitope “triggers” in antigen sequences that are key to activation of protective immune responses. It can be applied to epitope mapping, antigen selection, immunogen design, and prediction of vaccine efficacy. Facilitating the in silico prediction of immune response to biothreats, emerging infectious diseases, and cancers, these cutting-edge immunoinformatics tools allow for the accelerated design of safer, more effective vaccines for humans and livestock.

The iVAX™ tools are comprised of algorithms that score and triage candidate antigens based on their T cell epitope content, select immunogenic and conserved T cell epitopes, re-engineer or eliminate regulatory or “human-like” T cell epitopes, and re-design antigens to induce enhanced immunogenicity and protection against disease. These tools are key to the design of novel and next generation vaccines, as recent infectious disease outbreaks underscore the significance of vaccine-driven preparedness and the importance of T cell epitopes in driving a protective immune response.

The integrated set of tools available in the iVAX™ toolkit stand ready to help vaccine developers deliver better vaccines (of all formats) that consider T cell epitope-driven immunity. EpiVax has made the toolkit available for groups to access directly through the internet (iVAX™ Access), to have fee-for-service analyses performed by the EpiVax team (PreVAX™ and EpiCC™ Analyses), and through commercial and academic vaccine development collaborations. EpiVax has also adapted key iVAX tools for a specific use in personalized cancer vaccine design in a new in silico platform, Ancer.