Technology
CEPI and NRC work on safe protein antigens, faster
CEPI announced in October 2024 that it is working with experts at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to bioengineer a “commonly
NIH funding for Orlance Enhanced Seasonal Influenza Vaccine
Orlance, Inc., announced in October 2024 that it has been awarded a National Institutions of Health (NIH) Fast Track Small Business Innovation Research
CEPI funding for University of Sheffield’s RNAbox process
In October 2024, CEPI announced that it is awarding funding of up to £3.7 million to support researchers at the University of Sheffield as they seek
WHO confirms HPV vaccine Cecolin for single-dose schedule
In October 2024, WHO announced that a fourth WHO-prequalified human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine product, Cecolin, has been confirmed
Vaxart initiates sentinel cohort for Phase IIb study
In September 2024, Vaxart announced the initiation of the sentinel cohort of its Phase IIb clinical trial evaluating the oral pill COVID-19 vaccine
Tonix partners with Bilthoven Biologics on mpox vaccine
Tonix Pharmaceuticals announced in August 2024 that it is collaborating with Bilthoven Biologics (BBio) to advance TNX-801. TNX-801 is Tonix’s mpox vaccine candidate, a live replicating, attenuated virus vaccine based on horsepox. It has demonstrated better...
Optimised synthetic DNA: CEPI funds Afrigen access efforts
CEPI announced in August 2024 that it is providing US$2.05 million to researchers at Afrigen Biologics to support their work on synthetic DNA. The scientists are exploring if it can act as an alternative to the “traditional” plasmid DNA required for mRNA vaccines,...
Partnership to transform intradermal injection technology
The Pandemic Institute announced in August 2024 that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pharma Latch after attending the Congress in Washington this April. The collaboration will pursue several projects focused on optimising technology for safe,...
Gonorrhoea antibody study supports vaccine development
Amid a rise in cases of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea, authors of a paper in Nature Communications present their research into the immune response gonorrhoea in the hope that it will enable the development of effective vaccines. They conducted a trial of 4CMenB in...
Touchlight supports Zika vaccine development with dbDNA
In August 2024 Touchlight announced that it is supplying its proprietary dbDNA to the University of Nottingham in support of the research and development of a next-generation DNA vaccine targeting Zika virus. The scientists at University of Nottingham are working on a...
Emergent pledges ACAM2000 doses for mpox response
Emergent BioSolutions announced in August 2024 that it is “proactively” working with WHO and the US government in response to the outbreak of mpox in Africa and has pledged to donate 50,000 doses of ACAM2000. The donation will be delivered with Direct Relief, a...
Shigella4V: the long journey and road ahead
This is a guest post, kindly authored by Giulia Balconi of Adjuvant Capital. Earlier this month, Valneva (NASDAQ: VALN) and LimmaTech Biologics announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the development of a quadrivalent vaccine against Shigella, known as...
LASSARAB vaccine a “worthy candidate” for development
An article in npj vaccines in August 2024 presents research into the efficacy of a deactivated rabies virus (RABV)-based vaccine encoding the glycoprotein precursor (GPC) of Lassa fever virus (LASV): LASSARAB. In nonhuman primates (NHPs), the vaccine induced “strong”...
CEPI to support Boost Biopharma vaccine development
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...
US places $156.8 million JYNNEOS order from Bavarian Nordic
Bavarian Nordic announced in August 2024 that the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Respond in the Department of Health and Human Services, has placed an order valued at...
Nanoparticle platform boosts range of vaccine candidates
Researchers in Science Advances present their work developing a “highly modular saponin-based nanoparticle platform”. The platform incorporates Toll-like receptor agonists (TLRas), including TLR1/2a, TLR4a, and TLR7/8a adjuvants and their mixtures. These induce...
Phylex “on track” with Nipah virus vaccine research
In August 2024 Phylex Biosciences announced the publication of a preprint presenting research into the immunogenicity of its Nipah mRNA nanoparticle vaccine candidate. The paper, co-authored with CDC scientists, found that the vaccine elicited a “robust” neutralising...
AAHI and Afrigen partner on adjuvants for sub-Saharan Africa
In August 2024 the Access to Advanced Health Institute (AAHI) announced an expanded partnership with Afrigen Biologics to develop effective vaccines using AAHI’s innovative adjuvant formulations in sub-Saharan Africa. This develops a longstanding joint commitment that...
Valneva and LimmaTech partner on Shigella vaccine
In August 2024 Valneva and LimmaTech announced that they have entered a strategic partnership and exclusive licensing agreement for the development, manufacture, and commercialisation of Shigella4V (S4V), a tetravalent bioconjugate vaccine candidate against...
WHO prequalification status for Biological E’s nOPV2
Biological E announced in July 2024 that WHO has granted prequalification status to the company’s Novel Oral Polio Vaccine type 2 (nOPV2). Biological E describes this as a “monumental stride” towards global polio eradication, celebrating the 10th Biological E vaccine...
