THE PROBLEM: Millions of people struggle with autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. These diseases represent a significant challenge to the medical community; while medications are available to treat some of these diseases, there have been no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved vaccines to prevent them. 

THE SOLUTION: The Department of Energy (DOE) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) developed a technology, called nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs), which could provide a unique approach to developing vaccines for autoimmune diseases. NLPs are microscopic transport vehicles that can deliver vaccines directly to the lymph nodes, the hubs of the body’s immune response. NLPs can deliver vaccines efficiently and effectively because they appear similar to structures already found in the body, and that resemblance allows NLPs to complete their delivery without raising red flags to the immune system. NLPs carry the vaccine’s two key ingredients – the antigen (the active ingredient) and the adjuvant (the agent that boosts immune response) – at the same time as well as on the same particle (co-delivery), making NLPs very efficient carriers. NLPs are also very adaptable – they have the potential not only to deliver therapeutics to combat infectious, metabolic, and autoimmune diseases as well as cancers, but also can potentially be applied to protein research and drug screening. 

THE TECH TRANSFER MECHANISM: For over a decade, LLNL has built a robust intellectual property (IP) portfolio for NLPs. After the technology’s early development, LLNL’s Innovation and Partnerships Office (IPO) identified potential partners through issued patents, published patent applications and marketing. In 2017, LLNL licensed the NLP technology to EVOQ Therapeutics, an immunotherapy tech start-up, to develop it for cancer vaccines. However, when the effort did not gain enough traction, LLNL amended the EVOQ license agreement in 2020 to address autoimmune diseases, a new and promising area of vaccine application. The shift paid off as EVOQ was able to establish license agreements and secured funding for collaborative research and development (R&D) with well-known biopharmaceutical companies: Amgen, Inc., in 2021 and with Gilead Sciences, Inc., in 2023. Also, in 2022, EVOQ announced a collaboration with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to develop drugs targeting type 1 diabetes. 

THE TECH TRANSFER EXCELLENCE: The NLP technology is the first vaccines and therapeutics related innovation arising out of DOE national laboratories to enter preclinical trials – and the achievement has been hard won. Despite struggles in the initial pursuit to develop cancer vaccines, EVOQ and LLNL persisted. They saw the technology’s potential to target autoimmune diseases, and shifted their focus. Since the switch, EVOQ has seen positive outcomes for its autoimmune vaccine approach — the NanoDisc platform — in preclinical models for multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes. The project’s success has helped draw tens of millions of investment dollars with collaborating development partners. 

THE OUTCOMES:  With successful results in preclinical models of multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes, EVOQ demonstrated that the NanoDisc technology can be applied to a range of autoimmune disorders that affect millions around the world. These accomplishments were not done alone; in subsequent years, EVOQ signed collaborative agreements with partners to support ongoing R&D – including a 2021 partnership with Amgen providing hundreds of millions of dollars for preclinical and clinical development and commercialization, a 2022 collaboration with JDRF targeting type 1 diabetes, and a 2023 collaboration and licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences focused on rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. At the time of publication, the vaccines in development are making their way through preclinical trials with the goal of FDA approval so they can become available to the people who need them most.