“We strongly believe that our capsid Virus-Like Particle display technology will be a key player in global emergencies, such as the COVID-19 epidemic, and have selected BioConnection as our trusted partner in the Drug Product manufacture of our vaccine. We are grateful to BioConnection for ensuring vaccine production can happen in the fastest possible timeline with the expected quality,” says Wian de Jongh, AdaptVac’s CEO.
“The urgency level to develop an effective vaccine to combat COVID-19 could not be higher,” says BioConnection CEO Alexander Willemse. “We are delighted that we are able to contribute to a vaccine which could protect against new COVID-19 infections”
About the cVLP COVID-19 vaccine:
AdaptVac, Copenhagen University, ExpreS2ion, and the PREVENT-nCoV consortium are engaged in the development of a unique capsid virus-like particle (cVLP) COVID-19 vaccine, partly sponsored through a Horizon 2020 EU grant award to the PREVENT-nCoV consortium to rapidly advance the vaccine candidate against COVID-19 into the clinic. The two-component approach of AdaptVac’s cVLP technology and ExpreS2ion’s SARS-CoV-2 spike protein production allows for simply exchanging the surface protein, while keeping the cVLP constant. This vaccine technology has the potential to mimic a virus to the body’s immune system, giving the optimal stimulus to generate a fast, long-lasting immune response that offers a highly-efficacious protection. Importantly, the production of the vaccine technology can be readily scaled to commercial quantities as announced previously with AGC Biologics. Bavarian Nordic has licensed the commercialization rights to the cVLP COVID-19 vaccine.
About AdaptVac:
AdaptVac aims to accelerate the development of safe and efficacious therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines to treat and prevent specific cancers, infectious diseases and immunological disorders. AdaptVac ApS is a joint-venture between ExpreS2ion Biotechnologies ApS, a fully owned subsidiary of NASDAQ First North listed ExpreS2ion Biotech Holding AB and University of Copenhagen spin-out NextGen Vaccines ApS. The goal of the Joint Venture is to create a world class unit for the development of highly competitive vaccines and therapeutics against infectious diseases, cancer, and immunological disorders. The combination of ExpreS2ion’s proprietary insect cell expression technology, ExpreS2, and NextGen’s unique expertise in proprietary Virus-Like Particle (VLP) technology makes AdaptVac a strong and versatile player in the field of new vaccines and immune therapy.
Learn more at www.adaptvac.com and www.expres2ionbio.com.
About BioConnection:
BioConnection is a contract manufacturer for the GMP production of sterile drug products (in vials or syringes) for clinical trial programs and commercial purposes. Our state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing facility is EMA and US-FDA certified, we have more than 14 years of experience and a global customer base. BioConnection offers complete drug product service packages including: filling and freeze drying, technology transfer, scale-up, process validation, analytical support, stability studies, label & pack (incl. serialization) and final GMP release.
Learn more at www.bioconnection.eu
About the PREVENT-nCoV consortium:
The consortium is funded by an EU Horizon 2020 grant to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Further the vaccine development at University of Copenhagen is supported by the Carlsberg Foundation, the Danish research councils and Gudbjørg og Ejnar Honorés Fond. The consortium members are world-leading experts in their respective fields, covering all relevant areas of viral research and vaccine development required for rapid clinical development of a COVID-19 vaccine. This includes pre-clinical and clinically validated experience from working with similar Coronaviruses such as MERS and SARS, ExpreS2ion’s Drosophila S2 insect cell expression system, and AdaptVac’s capsid virus-like particle (cVLP) technology. In addition to ExpreS2ion and AdaptVac, the consortium members are Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Institute for Tropical Medicine (ITM) at University of Tübingen, The Department of Immunology and Microbiology (ISIM) at University of Copenhagen, and the Laboratory of Virology at Wageningen University.