VaxHit enables the prediction and isolation of novel proprietary sequences with the most potent T cell epitopes that are able to activate antigen and species specific immune response.  VaxHit combines an in-silico algorithm together with reverse immunology. A given VaxHit-sequence is usually a 15-40 AA long peptide Peptides are short polymers formed from the linking, in a defined order, of α-amino acids derived from a known or novel antigen containing multi-epitopes for both MHC class I and MHC class II molecules. It hence offers coverage of the majority of the population i.e. has a PAN HMC coverage. In a simplified manner, a given VaxHit vaccine is equivalent to a large number of antigen specific single class I and Class II epitopes used in a mixture (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Illustration of the VaxHit Technology

The novelty of VaxHit -derived vaccines is based on the unique ability of the selected sequences to bind simultaneously to multiple alleles Allele is one of a series of different forms of a genetic locus. of both MHC class I and MHC class II i.e. activate many CD4+ and CD8+–restricted T cell epitopes in an antigen specific manner. We have demonstrated that this feature facilitates the induction of robust immune response in the majority of the target population via combining the activation of both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells.

Vaxil's vaccine candidates (VC) offer several advantages over current vaccines on the market and in development:    

> Sequence structure: Vaxil's vaccines have the considerable advantage of being synthetic, relatively short peptide sequences and are therefore; chemically stable, free of contaminating substances such as bacterial pathogens (e.g. endotoxin) and devoid of oncogenic potential. Furthermore, synthetic vaccines are more applicable for a long term maintenance use.

> Promiscuous activation of T-cell clones: The vaccine candidates induce a broader, stronger and antigen specific TH1 type immunity via promiscuous activation of multiple T-cell clones both CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T-cells and the secretion of key cytokines like IFN-gamma and IL-2.  

> Multiple HMC allele binding = large population coverage: Vaxil's vaccines induce an efficient response in the majority of the population due to their ability to bind multiple HMC alleles. This is critical as different individuals express different sets of MHC alleles. Unlike other peptide vaccines, Vaxil's vaccines do not require patients to be selected according to their HMC repertoire.

> Ability to deal with tumor immune escape mechanisms: Vaxil's vaccines are able to efficiently overcome difficulties posed by immune escape mechanisms, mainly TAP deficiency, mediated by cancer cells and intracellular pathogens. To the best of our knowledge, these are the only vaccines, which currently offer this crucial property.  

> Stand-alone product: unlike most other peptide vaccines which are poor immunogens, Vaxil's vaccines have lipophilic sequences that allow less dependency of external adjuvants.