CEPI announced in August 2024 that it is providing a $5 million cash injection to Boost Biopharma to advance its “cutting-edge” rapid antigen design process. This has potential to enable faster development of safe and effective vaccines, supporting CEPI’s 100 Days Mission efforts. Boost develops recombinant protein vaccine candidates like a COVID-19 vaccine; the latest funding will contribute to a Phase I clinical trial in collaboration with the US NIH and NIAID.
A specialised antigen
The team at Boost has been working on a specialised protein antigen since 2020. This is built with a molecule that improves stability and has the potential to enhance immune responses. With more a more specialised antigen target, vaccines could be safer and more potent, reducing the need for adjuvants. Boost’s antigen construct is also stable at high temperatures, which can improve distribution, and is easily purified, which can accelerate manufacturing and reduce costs.
The trial
The Phase I trial will assess the vaccine, delivered through injection or nasal mist. Nasal mist administration offers an “additional layer of protection”, which is believed to have potential in stopping onward transmission of airborne respiratory viruses. Immunogenicity studies have already been conducted with the support of NIAID’s Preclinical Services Division, demonstrating the vaccine’s “strong performance” in comparison with an mRNA vaccine. In line with CEPI’s Equitable Access Policy both organisations’ commitment to enable equitable access to outputs of the partnerships, results from this research will be published in open access journals.
A potential gamechanger
Dr In-Kyu Yoon, Executive Director of Vaccine Research and Development (Acting) at CEPI, reflects that, although COVID-19 vaccines have protected “millions of lives” across the world, we have “constantly been one step behind”. The “Greek alphabet salad of different variants and subvariants” continues to evade the available tools.
“Being able to quickly update protein vaccines against fast-emerging viral mutations at pace with mRNA vaccines has the potential to be a gamechanger when faced with future COVID-19 variants or another evolving threat, as protein vaccines are currently cheaper to produce or more stable, which could help them get to more people worldwide.”
Boost co-founder and CEO, Dr Steve Gold, is “incredibly pleased to have CEPI’s support” as the organisation makes the transition from preclinical development to first human clinical trials. The funding is a “wonderful validation” of the team’s efforts and technology, but also provides a “clear pathway into the clinic” for the vaccines.
“We hope that safety and efficacy will be fully demonstrated so that our vaccines will ultimately be approved and made available to help millions of people around the world. It has been a pleasure to get to know the dedicated and experienced team at CEPI, and we are excited to move forward together.”
We look forward to welcoming senior representatives of CEPI back to the Congress in Barcelona this October and are delighted to see this positive development for one of our start-ups, Boost Biopharma. To engage with key industry players do get your tickets to join us in Barcelona here, and don’t forget to subscribe to our weekly newsletters here.
