Candidate: Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2
Category: VAX
Type: SARS-CoV-2 spike protein variant vaccine candidates from IPA, combined with LiteVax’s novel class of synthetic carbohydrate derivatives, designed to act as a vaccine adjuvant. The companies said they expect that the combination of IPA’s vaccine with LiteVax’s adjuvant technology, designed to specifically enhance the host’s immune response, will have a significant impact toward a successful single-low-dose vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.
Status: IPA joined LiteVax on September 25 to announced they had begun a first ongoing preclinical study of their vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 at IRTA (Catalonia, Spain), focusing on the feasibility of a single-low-dose administration to assess the safety and tolerability of the vaccine formulations. The first preclinical study is designed to enable the design of more extensive challenge studies.
In parallel to the preclinical study, which is supported through the European Commission-funded TRANSVAC2 program (grant agreement N° 730964), IPA and LiteVax said they are initiating relevant ex vivo assays. Study results will be compiled by November, the companies said, with the results enabling them to prioritize subsets of ideal vaccine candidates for further development.
“We are pleased to collaborate on this initial vaccine trial, which is expected to be followed by our PolyTope [monoclonal antibody] formulation within the year,” said IPA CEO and president of ImmunoPrecise Jennifer Bath, PhD.
COVID-19: 200 Candidates and Counting
To navigate through the >200 potential therapeutic and vaccine options for COVID-19, GEN has grouped the candidates into four broad categories based on their developmental and (where applicable) clinical progress:
● FRONT RUNNER – the most promising therapeutics/vaccines based on clinical progress, favorable data or both.
● DEFINITELY MAYBE – earlier phases with promising partners, or more advanced candidates in development that have generated uneven data.
● KEEPING AN EYE ON… – interesting technology, attracting notable partners, or both, but preliminary data.
● TOO SOON TO TELL – longshots pending additional experimental and/or clinical data.
GEN has also tagged the most common treatment types:
● ANTIVIRAL
● VAX
● ANTIBODY
● RNA
