See where we're at
We know that the development process for a vaccine can seem confusing and out of reach. That's why we're striving to provide an easy way for people to learn about what Stark Therapeutics is doing. Below you'll find a flow chart of our current project phase, a glossary of terms, video updates from our CEO, and technical data from our projects.
Phase of Development
We've started Preclinical Trials for
STK-VAX
Current Project
- already completed
- in-progress
- upcoming
Immunize mice and collect
serum over two weeks
Analyze levels of cytokines
and chemokines in serum
Determine immune response from immunized mice
Completed Projects
Grow E. coli with our DNA construct
Harvest and purify DNA
Thaw & grow HEK293 cells
Add DNA to HEK293 cells
Harvest and purify vaccine
Helpful Terms
Subunit Vaccine: contains a protein fragment of the virus and elicits an appropriate immune response. This is the vaccine type that Stark Therapeutics is developing
Cytokine: small secreted proteins released by cells can impact cell interactions and functions. In the context of the immune system, cytokines are essential to mounting a protective response against infection
T-cells: have various roles in clearing a viral infection. STK-Vax activates of group of T cells called CD8+ T cells which destroy infected cells
DNA Plasmid: small, circular, double-stranded DNA molecules that are different from a cell's chromosomal DNA. However, like chromosomal DNA, plasmids contain the cellular blueprints for a protein to be expressed
E. coli: Escherichia coli bacteria cells are commonly used to create DNA plasmids in large quantities through a process known as transformation
Transformation: the process by which external DNA is transferred in bacterial cells such as E. coli
HEK293: a human based cell line commonly used to express proteins. STK-Vax is produced through a special line adapted from Thermofisher Scientific's Expi293 system
Transfection: the process of introducing DNA plasmids into eukaryotic cells such as HEK293 cells. Upon doing so, transfected cells are able to produce the protein
Affinity Chromatography: a protein purification method that relies on a specific interaction or physical property to bind and purify a protein
Stark Therapeutics Video Snapshots
Data & Results
Good science is about transparency. As we generate data from our experiments, we'll post links to the results here.