Intravacc and Celonic team up to develop Covid-19 vaccine

Intravacc has partnered with contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Celonic Group for the design, development and production of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The vaccine will be based on an immunogenic Spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 and Intravacc’s Outer Membrane Vesicle (OMV) technology.

Intravacc’s OMV platform will be combined with S-proteins expressed by Celonic’s CHOvolution mammalian cell expression system. This combination is expected to induce an effective and balanced B and T cell response against SARS-CoV-2.

Celonic will create cell lines producing the S-protein in high quantities and develop a GMP production process. Pre-clinical studies will be performed to select a candidate protein for the vaccine.

Celonic Group CEO Dr Konstantin Matentzoglu said: “The novel vaccine has the potential to prevent morbidity and mortality of Covid-19. Together, we have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of patients at this time of great need.”

Intravacc and Celonic intend to expedite development of the former’s Covid-19 OMV protein vaccine, which is expected to advance into clinical testing next year.

Intravacc CEO Dr Jan Groen said: “Several studies have shown that OMVs have the ability to enhance the immune response and can be relatively easy formulated with target-specific peptides and proteins.

Intravacc has partnered with contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Celonic Group for the design, development and production of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The vaccine will be based on an immunogenic Spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 and Intravacc’s Outer Membrane Vesicle (OMV) technology.

Intravacc’s OMV platform will be combined with S-proteins expressed by Celonic’s CHOvolution mammalian cell expression system. This combination is expected to induce an effective and balanced B and T cell response against SARS-CoV-2.

Celonic will create cell lines producing the S-protein in high quantities and develop a GMP production process. Pre-clinical studies will be performed to select a candidate protein for the vaccine.

Celonic Group CEO Dr Konstantin Matentzoglu said: “The novel vaccine has the potential to prevent morbidity and mortality of Covid-19. Together, we have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of patients at this time of great need.”

Intravacc and Celonic intend to expedite development of the former’s Covid-19 OMV protein vaccine, which is expected to advance into clinical testing next year.

Intravacc CEO Dr Jan Groen said: “Several studies have shown that OMVs have the ability to enhance the immune response and can be relatively easy formulated with target-specific peptides and proteins.

“This, combined with the fact they can be quickly scaled-up for manufacturing, makes it an ideally suited platform under the current circumstances where quantity and speed are critical.”

In March, Intravacc commenced activities to develop four Covid-19 vaccine candidate based on its Vero cell, OMV and iBoost technologies.

The company formed multiple alliances to develop potential vaccines against Covid-19, including collaborations with EpiVax, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR) and Utrecht University.

Earlier this month, Intravacc collaborated with cancer immunotherapies developer CimCure to in-license the latter’s iBoost technology for vaccines.