Vaxart Inc. (NASDAQ:VXRT) has announced that it has chosen its lead coronavirus vaccine candidate as well as contracted KindredBio to produce the vaccine in bulk under the cGMP, which will complement the production capacity of the company’s partner Emergent Biosolutions.
Vaxart’s vaccine candidate to offer a broad immune response
The company’s chief scientific officer, Sean Tucker, indicated that all the company’s coronavirus vaccine candidates were very immunogenic in preclinical trials. He added that the company is moving forward with the lead candidate that they expect will produce a wide immune response in patients.
Tucker stated that the results of the second phase efficacy study show that the oral H1 flu tablet vaccine was able to protect subjects against flu infection after only one dose. He added that according to the results from the study, the company is confident that its vaccines have the capability of protecting people from mucosal respiratory viruses like SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.
At the beginning of this year, the company commenced a program of developing a coronavirus vaccine through its VAAST oral vaccines platform. Vaxart evaluated several vaccine candidates in preclinical studies and has now picked its lead vaccine candidate based on the extent and magnitude of immune response for cGMP productions. Already Kindred Biosciences and Emergent Biosolutions have been contracted for the bulk manufacture of the vaccine under cGMP.
KindredBio and Emergent Biosolutions Partnership to boost manufacturing
Vaxart CEO Wouter Latour said they were delighted to partner with an experienced company like KindredBio to help the company meet global demand for its coronavirus vaccine. He added that the program with Emergent is going one well, and they expect KindredBio to boost capacity in the bulk manufacture of the vaccine.
The advantage with Vaxart’s platform is that its vaccines are in the form of tablets, and they don’t require the sterile fill and finish that applies to the manufacture of injectable vaccines. Latour added that the manufacturing of the coronavirus vaccine is on track, and they expect to commence the first Phase 1 tests in the summer.
