 make it the first G8 nation to do so.
With the recent decision to privatize the province of Ontario’s cannabis industry by Doug Ford’s Conservative government, perhaps Canada could demonstrate to its CANZUK siblings how lucrative the legalization of weed can be.
However, the federal government’s legalization plan is not without its flaws particularly on the enforcement side of things. Notably, drivers convicted of driving under the influence of marijuana could face as much as 10 years in prison. That’s double the amount of time one would face for driving drunk.
For Cannabis rights, Great Britain is arguably the most regressive of the CANZUK countries. As a class B drug in the UK, Cannabis is categorized alongside such dangerous substances as barbiturates, ketamine, and various amphetamines. Possession of it could yield as many as 5 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.
There is a reason to be optimistic though, as the floodgates to full legalization may have been recently opened. Great Britain recently passed legislation to allow doctors to prescribe medical cannabis. Notions of recreational weed have a powerful opponent however in Home Secretary Sajid Javid. The nation’s highest medical officer has shut down notions that this landmark decision could be a stepping stone for further cannabis rights.
Public opinion seems to be in favor of legalization by a slight margin. In a 2014 UK survey, 52% of those polled were in favor of legalizing the sale and possession of marijuana.
New Zealand is going through a period of reevaluation. The current coalition government plans to hold a referendum in 2020 on the legality of Cannabis for recreational use. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has publicly stated that she does not support the imprisonment of cannabis users.
Until then, however, it appears New Zealand pot smokers could still face legal repercussions for their recreational activities. The severity of these charges sometimes lies on the arbitrary lines of how cannabis users choose to use. Possession for cannabis itself is relatively minor, resulting in a $500 fine and no more than 3 months of jail time. Cultivation is a different tale, however, as growers could face as long as a 7-year imprisonment, while manufacturers of hashish and oils face double that.
There seems to be a fair bit of popular demand for greater unity between the Commonwealth nations. While culturally similar, and sharing a common heritage, these four nations could not be more dissimilar in their government’s stance on the legality of cannabis. Perhaps greater unity could bring about some sort of consistency for how the plant is regarded and classified legally… but only time will tell.August 13-15, 2013
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WEDNESDAY, August 14
8:00am Conference Registration & Morning Coffee
ADJUVANTS
8:55 Chairperson's Remarks
Harriet Robinson, Ph.D., CSO, GeoVax Labs, Inc.
9:00 Featured Presentation
Adjuvants: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Nathalie Garçon, Ph.D., Vice President and Head, Global Center for Adjuvants and Technology Innovation, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals
Adjuvants have traditionally been used as vaccine constituents. However, their modes of action are only recently beginning to be unveiled, in particular by the discovery of Toll-like receptors (TLRs). TLRs mimic the immune defence triggers which are part of all infectious pathogens and lead to the activation of the immune system. Our understanding of how innate and adaptive immune responses interact in order to elicit an antigen-specific protective immune response following infection, as well as our understanding of the impact of adjuvants on the immune response to a given antigen, have enabled the development of new or improved vaccines for unmet medical needs. As of today, over a hundred adjuvants are being developed to enhance the specific immune responses to vaccines against various diseases. Although some of these adjuvants are part of approved vaccines, the majority of them are still being evaluated in preclinical or clinical trials. Notwithstanding the achievements to date, several setbacks are still being encountered such as the absence of an appropriate immune response, formulation or testing issues, and various theoretical concerns.
This presentation will review adjuvants of the past and their introduction into vaccines, the current adjuvant landscape, key events that helped their advancement and lessons learned, and will finish with the challenges lying ahead.
9:30 Making a "Super" Vaccine: Using TNF Superfamily Ligands to Adjuvant Antibody and T Cell Responses from HIV-1 DNA and Viral Vector Vaccines
Geoffrey Stone, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Microbiology, and Group Leader, Immunology, HIV Immunotherapy Program, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Biography
The TNF superfamily of ligands (TNFSFL) includes more than 15 inducers of dendritic cell and T cell costimulation. We present evidence that particular members of this family can be genetically engineered to increase DNA and viral vector vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy. Certain TNFSFL increase the quality of anti-gp120 antibodies, leading to enhanced neutralization and increased avidity in murine models. Other TNFSFL significantly enhance T cell responses, with distinct effects for DNA versus Ad5 vaccine formulations.
10:00 Inducing Broadly Cross-Protective Antiviral Immunity with Advax, a 3rd Generation Vaccine Adjuvant
Nikolai Petrovsky, Ph.D., Professor, Endocrinology Department, Flinders Medical Centre, Flinders University, and Research Director, Vaxine Pty Ltd. Biography
The move to highly purified antigens has created a problem of poor vaccine immunogenicity. Current thinking is this problem is best addressed by use of potent innate immune activators as adjuvants, thereby mimicking natural infection. However, using examples of vaccines against influenza, West Nile, and hepatitis B, data will be provided to show that bigger is not always better when it comes to adjuvant design.
10:30 Coffee Break with Exhibit and Poster Viewing
11:15 Improving the Efficacy of Cancer and Infectious Disease Vaccines with the Novel Synthetic Saponin Adjuvants
Jeffrey Gardner, CEO, Executive, Adjuvance Technologies, Inc.
Despite the liabilities QS-21 has remained the immunological adjuvant of choice and has proven its potency in many cancer, infectious disease and even degenerative disorder vaccine trials. Recently, all of these liabilities have been overcome by our semisynthetic approach to QS-21 synthesis. Our lead QS-21 analog (TiterQuil-1-0-5-5) and additional novel analogues have been selected through an exhaustive analysis of KLH conjugated vaccines against a series of glycolipid and peptide cancer antigens. Through the development of truncated synthetic and semi-synthetic QS21 analogues significant advances have been made that have overcome QS-21's issues resulting in improved purity, stability, safety, availability and adjuvant potency/toxicity ratio.
11:45 Development of Cyclic Dinucleotides (CDNs) as STING-Targeted Molecular Adjuvants
Thomas Dubensky, Ph.D., CSO, Research and Development, AduroBioTech, Inc. Biography
We demonstrate that vaccination with CDN-adjuvanted recombinant protein formulated to facilitate cytosolic trafficking induces antigen-specific CD4 and CD8 T cell responses, together with Th1-based antibodies which correlate.
12:15pm Development of Protein Capsular Matrix Vaccine (PCMV) Platform Technology
Kevin P. Killeen, Ph.D., CSO, Matrivax Research & Development Corp.
Matrivax R&D Corp. is developing a proprietary vaccine platform technology, termed Protein Capsular Matrix Vaccine (PCMV), which entraps polysaccharides in a cross-linked CRM197 protein matrix. Matrivax is researching and developing pneumococcal and Typhoid PCMV candidates. Typhoid/pneumococcal preclinical data and typhoid PCMV GMP manufacture and Phase 1 trial plans will be discussed.
12:30 Luncheon Presentation (Opportunity Available) or Lunch on Your Own.
DNA VACCINES
1:55 Chairperson's Remarks
Joe Cohen, Ph.D., Founder & Director, Cohen Biopharm Consulting
2:00 New Insight on the Induction of High Quality Antibody Responses by DNA Immunization
Shan Lu, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School Biography
While the DNA vaccination concept was formally accepted 20 years ago, human applications have been questioned due to its low immunogenicity as learned from early clinical studies. Recent results, including those from human clinical trials, indicate that DNA immunization is effective in priming B cells to elicit high quality antibody responses. Multiple previously unknown mechanisms in both innate and acquired immune systems are involved in this process.
2:30 Turning Self-Destructing Salmonella into a Universal DNA Vaccine Delivery Platform for Prevention and Treatment of a Diversity of Diseases
Wei Kong, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University Biography
To turn a recombinant attenuated self-destructing Salmonella vaccine (RASV) strain into a universal DNA vaccine-delivery vehicle, our approach was to genetically modify RASV strains to display a hyper-invasive. Adoption of these technological improvements will revolutionize means for effective delivery of DNA vaccines to stimulate mucosal, systemic, and cellular protective immunities, and lead to a paradigm shift in cost-effective control and prevention of a diversity of diseases.
3:00 Novel HIV Vaccine Strategies
Dan H. Barouch,