BioVaxys Technology Corp. (CSE:BIOV, OTCQB:BVAXF) announced that it has partnered with Ohio State University to further develop the company’s haptenized viral antigen platform to create a broadly reactive pan-sarbecovirus vaccine.
The Vancouver-based company said this is its second research collaboration in the SARS-CoV-2 field with Ohio State. The university’s Wexner Medical Center serves as a site for multicenter clinical trials.
Sarbecoviruses, a subset of the coronaviridae family, include the emerging SARS2 variants Delta and Omicron. Sarbecoviruses are responsible for two pandemics in less than 20 years including SARS-CoV-1 (SARS1) in 2003 and the current coronavirus pandemic. Additional SARS-like viruses are continuously being found in natural reservoirs.
READ: Biovaxys says CoviDTH shows safety and tolerability in pathology and immunology evaluations to support clinical development
"The repeated emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and the potential for new coronaviruses increases the urgency for a universal vaccine. Research suggests that a pan-sarbecovirus vaccine could potentially prevent additional emergent variants and help end the COVID-19 pandemic," said Kenneth Kovan, chief operating officer of BioVaxys.
The collaboration will leverage BioVaxys' proprietary haptenized viral antigen platform to create a broadly reactive pan-sarbecovirus vaccine composed of hapten-modified S-spike protein from SARS-CoV-2 and a hapten-modified S-protein from SARS-CoV-1.
Ohio State will conduct animal studies with BVX-0320, BioVaxys' haptenized SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein vaccine, and a new haptenized SARS-CoV-1 S1 protein vaccine from BioVaxys. The study will screen the combination for virus-neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, and other sarbecoviruses, including bat SARS-related CoV and pangolin CoV.
Initial data are expected by Spring 2022.
The company told its investors that the clinical goal of the program is to stimulate virus cross-reactivity and induce immunity against all or most sarbecoviruses by immunizing people who have convalesced from a documented COVID-19 infection or received a full course of any COVID-19 vaccine, leading to a pan-sarbecovirus vaccine that encompasses current and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
BioVaxys recently filed a patent application for its haptenized viral antigen vaccine platform to elicit a broad cross-reactive immune response against most or all sarbecoviruses.
Contact Ritika at ritika@proactiveinvestors.com