Vaxart Inc. (NASDAQ: VXRT) has released its business update for Q3 2021, showing strong momentum in developing its oral vaccine platform that comprises tablet vaccines that the company believes will revolutionize public health.
Vaxart commenced the first phase II study.
In the third quarter, the company began the first Phase II trial of their investigational COVID-19 oral tablet vaccine and dosed the first participants. The whole data set from this investigation is expected to be accessible in Q1 2022, according to Vaxart.
Published results by Duke University show that the company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate reduced airborne transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a preclinical animal model. Vaxart also improved its research and manufacturing capacity, allowing it to move forward with the production of the vaccine candidate.
CEO Andrei Floroiu stated, “Vaxart made significant progress this quarter toward its goal of developing a next-generation oral tablet COVID-19 vaccine. We have started our United States Phase II trial and anticipate beginning international trials in the near future. This is an important milestone, as our candidate is the only oral COVID-19 vaccine to progress to Phase II trials in the U.S.”
Floroiu added, “Our view has been that an oral tablet vaccine could transform how the world is protected from COVID-19 and other infections because they are easy to distribute and administer. Now we added evidence suggesting the differentiated mucosal mechanism of action could be yet another improvement over injectable alternatives.”
Vaxart’s oral vaccine inhibited shredding of viral RNA relative to injectable vaccines
Vaxart founder and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Sean Tucker said The progress we made in our vaccine research this quarter was significant. We already learned from an earlier human influenza challenge study that our oral flu vaccine candidate inhibited the shedding of viral RNA better than injectable vaccines. In addition, our published hamster study showed that our vaccine candidate could reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2, even when there is an infection breakthrough in a vaccinated subject. The implications are significant because existing injected vaccines do not always protect against viral shedding and transmission to other people.”
