- CEPI and VBI expand scope of partnership to target multiple
coronavirus threats
- Vaccine platform presents multiple antigens, mimicking natural
form of the virus
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is
expanding its world-leading portfolio of potential variant-proof
coronavirus vaccines in a deal with VBI Vaccines Inc. (Nasdaq:
VBIV) to advance the development of multivalent coronavirus shots
that could be deployed against COVID-19 as well as a future
‘Coronavirus X’.
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The candidate vaccines will be developed using VBI’s proprietary
enveloped virus-like particle (eVLP) technology platform and aim to
provide broad and durable protection against multiple variants of
the COVID-19-causing coronavirus, as well as against other
coronaviruses – both known and as-yet unknown – that harbour
pandemic potential.
The renewed partnership expands the scope of a previously
launched collaboration (announced in March 2021) in which CEPI
committed up to US$33 million for VBI to develop an eVLP vaccine
candidate targeting the Beta (B.1.351) COVID-19 variant.
Application of this funding will now be directed into the
broader development of the VBI-2900 coronavirus vaccine program to
explore the ‘Coronavirus X’ potential of VBI’s technology. As part
of this new agreement, CEPI will support the further optimization
of VBI’s eVLP platform, including the next stages of manufacturing
scale-up.
Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said: “As we approach
the third anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic under the continued
threat of new variants, we are determined to focus on the critical
goal of developing future-proof coronavirus vaccines that will put
the world ahead of this and other pandemic threats. The world must
continue to evolve our science to keep pace with the virus and
produce new and better medical countermeasures. Variant-proof and
pan-coronavirus vaccines, if we can develop them, will be critical
tools protecting us from variants that don’t even exist yet and
ideally creating more durable immunity than current vaccines. VBI’s
eVLP technology is one such promising vaccine platform that could
one day help protect the world against these and other new
infectious disease threats.”
Jeff Baxter, VBI’s President & CEO, said: “As
evidenced by the emergence of multiple new immune-evasive Omicron
subvariants, it is clear that chasing variants in order to maintain
long-term COVID-19 protection will be a challenging and likely
unsustainable strategy. We have long recognized the public health
value that multivalent vaccines capable of anticipating new
variants and coronavirus strains could provide. We are grateful to
CEPI for their continued support and our ongoing partnership as we
optimize our technology to create vaccines that are capable of
eliciting safe, durable, and broadly reactive immune
responses.”
Vaccines Against “Coronavirus X” – VBI’s Coronavirus Vaccine
Program, VBI-2900 VBI’s 2900 program consists of multiple
undisclosed, multivalent vaccine constructs developed using VBI’s
proprietary eVLP platform technology, in addition to the three
candidates that have already entered clinical development: (1)
VBI-2901, a multivalent coronavirus vaccine expressing the
SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV spike proteins, (2) VBI-2902, a
monovalent COVID-19 vaccine expressing a modified prefusion form of
the SARS-CoV-2 ancestral spike protein, and (3) VBI-2905, a
monovalent COVID-19 vaccine expressing a modified prefusion form of
the spike protein from the Beta variant (B.1.351).
Coronaviruses are enveloped by nature, which make them a prime
target for VBI’s eVLP platform. The eVLP technology is flexible and
highly customizable, allowing for expression of multiple protein
antigens of interest on the surface of the particles. eVLPs create
a close mimic of the natural presentation of enveloped viruses such
as SARS-CoV-2, and by carrying multiple copies of the target
protein, they are designed to trigger a potent immune response.
Phase 1 studies of VBI-2902 and VBI-2905 completed in 2021 and
2022, respectively, and demonstrated the safety, tolerability, and
potent immunogenicity of the eVLP platform against coronaviruses.
In September 2022, VBI initiated a Phase 1 study of VBI-2901 at
multiple clinical sites in Canada. Interim data from this study are
expected mid-year 2023, subject to speed of participant
enrolment.
The vaccine program has been developed through collaborations
with CEPI, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), and the
Government of Canada, through their Strategic Innovation Fund.
Enabling Equitable Access As part of CEPI’s commitment to
enabling equitable access, VBI agrees that vaccine candidates
produced using their platform technology will be available in an
outbreak situation to populations at risk including in low-income
and middle-income countries, at a low but commercially sustainable
price. VBI also agrees to continue to sell such vaccine candidates
for a period after the pandemic to the same countries and to public
sector entities that procure the vaccine candidate—at the same
price—to achieve equitable access for populations in need.
About CEPI CEPI is an innovative partnership between
public, private, philanthropic, and civil organizations, launched
in 2017, to develop vaccines against future epidemics. Its mission
is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic
countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can
be accessible to all people in need.
Prior to COVID-19, CEPI’s work focused on developing vaccines
against Ebola virus, Lassa virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
coronavirus, Nipah virus, Rift Valley Fever virus and Chikungunya
virus – it has over 20 vaccine candidates against these pathogens
in development. CEPI has also invested in new platform technologies
for rapid vaccine development against unknown pathogens (Disease
X).
CEPI has played a central role in the global response to
COVID-19, supporting the development of the world’s largest
portfolio of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants with a
focus on speed, scale and access, as well as co-leading COVAX, the
global initiative to deliver fair and equitable access to COVID-19
vaccines. CEPI is also the world’s leading funder of R&D for
broadly protective coronavirus vaccines which could protect against
future variants of COVID-19 as well as other coronaviruses with
epidemic and pandemic potential.
CEPI has embarked upon an ambitious US$3.5bn five-year plan –
called CEPI 2.0 – to dramatically reduce or even eliminate the
future risk of pandemics and epidemics. Central to the plan is
CEPI’s goal – supported by the G7 and G20 – to compress the time
taken to develop safe, effective, globally accessible vaccines
against new threats to just 100 days. Achieving this ‘100 Days
Mission’ would give the world a fighting chance of containing a
future outbreak before it spreads to become a global pandemic. Read
the plan at endpandemics.cepi.net/
Follow our news page for the latest updates. Follow us
@CEPIvaccines, @DrRHatchett, and LinkedIn.
About VBI Vaccines Inc. VBI Vaccines Inc. (“VBI”) is a
biopharmaceutical company driven by immunology in the pursuit of
powerful prevention and treatment of disease. Through its
innovative approach to virus-like particles (“VLPs”), including a
proprietary enveloped VLP (“eVLP”) platform technology, VBI
develops vaccine candidates that mimic the natural presentation of
viruses, designed to elicit the innate power of the human immune
system. VBI is committed to targeting and overcoming significant
infectious diseases, including hepatitis B, coronaviruses, and
cytomegalovirus (CMV), as well as aggressive cancers including
glioblastoma (GBM). VBI is headquartered in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, with research operations in Ottawa, Canada, and a
research and manufacturing site in Rehovot, Israel.
For more information, visit www.vbivaccines.com.
Cautionary Statement on Forward-looking Information
Certain statements in this press release that are forward-looking
and not statements of historical fact are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are
forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian
securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking statements”). The
Company cautions that such statements involve risks and
uncertainties that may materially affect the Company’s results of
operations. Such forward-looking statements are based on the
beliefs of management as well as assumptions made by and
information currently available to management. Actual results could
differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking
statements as a result of certain factors, including but not
limited to, the impact of general economic, industry or political
conditions in the United States or internationally; the impact of
the COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing effects of the COVID-19
pandemic on our clinical studies, manufacturing, business plan, and
the global economy; the ability to successfully manufacture and
commercialize PreHevbrio/PreHevbri; the ability to establish that
potential products are efficacious or safe in preclinical or
clinical trials; the ability to establish or maintain
collaborations on the development of pipeline candidates and the
commercialization of PreHevbrio/PreHevbri; the ability to obtain
appropriate or necessary regulatory approvals to market potential
products; the ability to obtain future funding for developmental
products and working capital and to obtain such funding on
commercially reasonable terms; the Company’s ability to manufacture
product candidates on a commercial scale or in collaborations with
third parties; changes in the size and nature of competitors; the
ability to retain key executives and scientists; and the ability to
secure and enforce legal rights related to the Company’s products.
A discussion of these and other factors, including risks and
uncertainties with respect to the Company, is set forth in the
Company’s filings with the SEC and the Canadian securities
authorities, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with
the SEC on March 7, 2022, and filed with the Canadian security
authorities at sedar.com on March 7, 2022, as may be supplemented
or amended by the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Given
these risks, uncertainties and factors, you are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are
qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. All such
forward-looking statements made herein are based on our current
expectations and we undertake no duty or obligation to update or
revise any forward-looking statements for any reason, except as
required by law.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221206005302/en/
Media CEPI E: press@cepi.net T: +44 7387
055214
VBI Nicole Anderson Director, Corporate Communications
& IR Phone: (617) 830-3031 x124 Email: IR@vbivaccines.com
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