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CEPI is collaborating with Intravacc to develop an intranasal, highly protective betacoronavirus vaccine

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Category: Vaccines

Published on Thursday, October 06, 2022 09:26

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OSLO, Norway and BILTHOVEN, Netherlands I October 6, 2022 I CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the Dutch vaccine clinical development and manufacturing organization, Intravacc, today announced the latest CEPI grant commitment to advance the development of vaccines that provide comprehensive protection against SARS-CoV 2 (including its variants) and others offer betacoronaviruses.

CEPI will provide up to $4.8 million in seed funding to Intravacc – a global leader in translational research and development of preventive and therapeutic vaccines – to advance the development of a comprehensively protective vaccine betacoronavirus Vaccine candidate that can be administered intranasally.

The CEPI funds will support the pre-clinical development and testing of Intravacc’s subunit vaccine candidate (Avacc 101) based on its outer membrane vesicle (OMV) platform.

This technology has the potential to be rapidly adapted to combat disease outbreaks caused by disease emergence betacoronavirus Strains and variants as well as to protect against pre-emergence betacoronaviruses (i.e. before they “spill over” from animals to infect humans). In particular, the vaccine candidate Avacc 101 is said to offer comprehensive protection against SARS-CoV-1, SAR-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV. This platform will enable the presentation of universal spike molecules and will contain ‘epitopes’ that can also elicit T-cell responses.

Unlike the COVID-19 vaccines currently in use, this candidate is administered intranasally. This method of administration could help create the mucosal immunity needed to block viral infection, thereby reducing person-to-person transmission.

Allow equal access
CEPI is committed to the principle of equal access to the vaccines it finances. Under the terms of the Funding Agreement, Intravacc is committed to achieving equitable access to the results of this project in accordance with CEPI’s Equitable Access Policy.

dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI said:
“The recent waves of Omicron subvariants in the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 still poses a serious threat to a still-fragile global recovery. to secure Given the progress that has been made, we must continue to develop vaccines that provide comprehensive protection against these variants to reduce the need for regular booster variants, and that can also provide protection against other, more deadly coronavirus threats, including MERS-CoV. Investing in, initiating the development of, and enabling equitable access to broadly protective coronavirus vaccines should be an essential part of the world’s long-term strategy to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and avert future threats.”

said dr Jan Groen, CEO of Intravacc:
“This is the real beginning of a new era for intranasal vaccines. Working with CEPI is a big step forward: from ‘best alone’ to ‘better together’. This will allow us to leverage Intravacc’s OMV platform for the vaccine around the world that sorely needs.”

Notes for editors
CEPI’s $200 million all-in-one coronavirus vaccine program
Including today’s announcement, CEPI has so far announced funding for 12 programs to advance the development of vaccines that could provide comprehensive protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants and others betacoronaviruses:

• MigVax Ltd – Funding of US$4.3 million to MigVax Ltd to support the initial development of a new oral subunit vaccine tablet that could provide comprehensive protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants
• University of Saskatchewan Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) – Funding of $5 million to support the initial development of a new vaccine based on VIDO’s novel protein subunit technology that provides comprehensive protection against the SARS-CoV-2 variant could offer
• Affinivax – Funding of up to $4.5 million to support the initial development of a vaccine candidate based on Affinivax’s MAPS platform that could provide comprehensive protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants
• SK Bioscience – Funding of up to $50 million to support the development of a vaccine candidate based on SK’s nanoparticle vaccine platform to induce immune responses that could protect against variants of SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and others
• Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) and Panacea Biotec – Funding of up to $12.5 million to support the development of nanoparticle-based multi-epitope vaccine candidates that provide comprehensive protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants and other betacoronaviruses could offer
• BioNet Asia – Funding of up to $16.9 million to advance the development of a novel mRNA-based vaccine that could provide comprehensive protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants
• DIOSynVax – Up to $42 million in funding to support the development of a broadly protective betacoronavirus vaccine using mRNA platform technology
• NEC Corporation – Funding of up to $4.8 million to support the initial development of an AI-engineered vaccine based on mRNA technology that protects against a broad range of betacoronaviruses.
• Bharat Biotech/ University of Sydney/ ExcellGene – Funding of up to $19.3 million to support the development of an adjuvanted subunit vaccine designed to provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
• Codiak Biosciences – Funding of up to $2.5 million to advance their proprietary exoVACC ^TM platform from his pan betacoronavirus Program through preclinical studies.
• Consortium led by Center for Process Innovation/California Institute of Technology/University of Oxford/Ingenza – funding of up to $30 million to advance mosaic vaccine coronavirus technology to Phase I trials, including preclinical work that could protect SARS-CoV-2 variants and other SARS-like betacoronaviruses.
• Intravacc – Funding of up to $4.8 million to advance development of comprehensive protection betacoronavirus Vaccine candidate subunit vaccine candidate (Avacc 101) based on the Company’s Outer Membrane Vesicle (OMV) platform, which can be administered intranasally.

About CEPI
CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic and civil organizations launched in Davos in 2017 to develop vaccines against future epidemics. Prior to COVID-19, CEPI’s work focused on developing vaccines for Ebola virus, Lassa virus, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Nipah virus, Rift Valley fever virus and Chikungunya -Virus – there are over 20 vaccine candidates in development against these pathogens. CEPI has also invested in new platform technologies for the rapid development of vaccines against unknown pathogens (Disease X).

During the current pandemic, CEPI initiated several programs to develop vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants with an emphasis on speed, scale and access. These programs leverage the rapid response platforms developed by CEPI’s partners before the onset of COVID-19, as well as new collaborations. The goal is to advance the clinical development of a diverse portfolio of safe and effective COVID-19 candidates and enable fair allocation to these vaccines worldwide through COVAX.

CEPI’s 5-year plan includes a $3.5 billion roadmap to shorten vaccine development timelines to 100 days, create a universal vaccine for COVID-19 and others betacoronaviruses, and create a “library” of vaccine candidates to use against known and unknown pathogens. The plan is available at http://www.endpandemics.cepi.net. Follow our news site for the latest updates. Follow us about @CEPIvaccines, @DrRHatchettand LinkedIn.

Learn more about “The Race to Future-Proof Coronavirus Vaccines” here.

About Intravacc BV
Intravacc, based in the Utrecht Science Park Bilthoven in the Netherlands, is a leading global contract development and manufacturing company (CDMO) of innovative vaccines against infectious diseases. As an established independent CDMO with an outstanding track record in vaccine development and vaccine technologies, Intravacc has transferred its technology related to polio vaccines, measles vaccines, DPT vaccines, Hib vaccines and influenza vaccines around the world. Around 40% of childhood vaccines are based on Intravacc’s proprietary technology. Intravacc offers a wide range of vaccine development expertise from concept through phase I/II clinical trials to partners around the world, including universities, public health organizations (WHO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), biotech and pharmaceutical companies . Visit www.intravacc.nl for more information.

SOURCE: intravacc