BioVaxys Technology Corp. (CSE:BIOV, OTCQB:BVAXF) revealed that it has struck an agreement with Millipore-Sigma to manufacture a supply of GLP-grade BVX-1021, its newly developed vaccine for the strain of coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS1), the respiratory illness responsible for the deadly 2002-2004 pandemic.
The Vancouver-based clinical stage biotechnology company noted that there are no vaccines currently approved for SARS1.
BVX-1021 is the focus of a research collaboration between Ohio State University and BioVaxys that is evaluating the company's novel approach to a broadly reactive "universal vaccine" that can treat a range of sarbecoviruses or act as a pan-sarbecovirus vaccine.
Sarbecoviruses are a family of viruses that include SARS-CoV-2 and all current variants such as Delta and Omicron, as well as 10 additional variants, SARS1, and other potentially dangerous zoonotic viruses.
The collaboration with Ohio State has been underway since January this year and is evaluating the combination of BVX-0320 and BVX-1021 in a guinea pig model. The major endpoints of the study are the development of virus-neutralizing antibodies to live virus SARS-CoV-2 and other sarbecoviruses, including bat and pangolin SARS-related coronaviruses, said the company.
Bats are a major reservoir of SARS, with several strains having been identified in palm civets, which were likely ancestors of SARS-CoV-1. The presence of neutralizing antibodies in the animal model would suggest that BVX-1021 would confer additional immune response across all sarbecoviruses in people who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, as well as those with natural immunity.
In a statement, Biovaxys chief medical officer Dr David Berd said: "Scientists have observed that people who survived the 2002-03 SARS pandemic and then were administered a COVID-19 vaccine developed antibodies that cross-reacted with all the sarbecoviruses that they tested. That observation suggested to us that a similar pan-sarbecovirus immune response could be generated by immunizing with haptenized spike protein from SARS1 and SARS-Cov-2, that is our BVX-0320 and BVX-1021 products."
BVX-1021 is a hapten-modified recombinant S-protein from SARS-CoV-1, whereas BVX-0320, BioVaxys' COVID-19 vaccine, is a hapten-modified recombinant S-spike protein from SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19.
In a nutshell, a hapten is a small molecule that stimulates an immune response when melded with a protein such as a virus surface antigen but lacks antigenicity of its own. Previous studies conducted by BioVaxys in mice have shown that haptenized SARS-CoV-2 spike protein elicits both robust T cell and antibody response.
Significantly, a BioVaxys study suggests that its haptenized SARS-CoV-2 spike protein vaccine may not lead to the serious myocarditis, or heart inflammation observed with mRNA vaccines.
Kenneth Kovan, who is the chief operating officer at BioVaxys, added: "The CIVID-19 market is shifting to vaccines that will not only protect against emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2, but also for any related coronaviruses that likely may arise in the future. BVX-1021 demonstrates that we can leverage our technology platform to create novel hapten-viral antigen vaccines to target additional markets."
BioVaxys aims to develop BVX-1021 as a standalone "booster" targeting anyone who has been immunized with a World Health Organization recognized COVID-19 vaccine or recovered from a COVID infection.
The company cited data showing that nearly 389 million people worldwide have recovered from COVID-19 and 57% of the global population, or 4.4 billion people have received a full course of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive