Technology
SK bioscience announces $3 million investment in FinaBio
SK bioscience announced in October 2024 that it has signed an agreement to acquire a stake in Fina Biosolutions (FinaBio) with a $3 million investment.
MSD Animal Health expands NOBIVAC NXT platform for cats
MSD Animal Health announced in September 2024 that it is expanding the newly USDA-approved NOBIVAC NXT vaccine platform to include a best-in-class
Evaxion launches enhanced AI-Immunology platform
Evaxion Biotech announced the launch of an enhanced version of its clinically validated AI-Immunology platform in September 2024, with an update
Next-gen vaccines: Vicebio announces financing and study
Vicebio announced $100 million Series B financing and the initiation of a Phase I clinical study of RSV/hMPV bivalent vaccine in September 202
Self-administered FluMist secures FDA approval
In September 2024 the United States FDA announced the approval of FluMist for self- or caregiver-administration. It is approved for active immunisation
Sinergium Biotech to lead mRNA avian influenza project
In July 2024, WHO announced that Argentine manufacturer Sinergium Biotech is to lead a new project that aims to accelerate the development and accessibility of human avian influenza (H5N1) mRNA vaccine candidates for manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries...
Vaccine trial innovation for improved pandemic preparedness
An article in Infection in July 2024 summarises discussions held at a VACCELERATE Consortium workshop, which explored the applicability of adaptive platform trial (APT) methodology in vaccine trials for both non-pandemic and pandemic conditions. The authors suggest...
“Unconventional” immune response offers TB vaccine path
Researchers at the Hackensack Meridian Centre for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) shared in July 2024 that their paper in Cell Reports presents the identification of an “unconventional” immune response with positive implications for tuberculosis (TB) vaccine...
Sabin launches Phase II trial of Sudan ebolavirus vaccine
Sabin Vaccine Institute announced in July 2024 that it has launched a Phase II clinical trial for its vaccine against Sudan ebolavirus. The trial of healthy volunteers takes place at Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP) in Uganda. The vaccine is based on...
Oxford teams launch Marburg trial of ChAdOx1 vaccine
Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute announced in July 2024 that a clinical trial to test a vaccine against Marburg virus has been launched. The first-in-human trial of the ChAdOx1 Marburg vaccine, developed and manufactured by teams at the University of Oxford, will...
Orlance awarded NIH grant for needle-free RNA platform
Seattle-based biotech Orlance announced in July 2024 that it has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the US NIH to develop and optimise RNA vaccine formulations with its needle-free MACH-1 platform. The technology is intended to...
Fighting TB: a multi-epitope-based subunit vaccine
An article in Scientific reports in July 2024 describes the “pressing need” for novel and safe vaccines that provide “robust immune defence and have various applications” against tuberculosis. The authors apply an immunoinformatic strategy to generate an adequate...
NIH-sponsored trial to evaluate nasal COVID-19 vaccine
In July 2024, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced the beginning of a Phase I trial to test the safety of a nasal vaccine candidate against emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2. Enrolment of healthy adults has started at three sites in across the US for the...
CTIBIOTECH’s SAFESKIN3D project secures Sanofi support
In June 2024 it was announced that CTIBIOTECH has launched the SAFESKIN3D project to produce flexible 3D bioprinted human skin models for use in the evaluation of vaccines, particularly next generation mRNA vaccines. CTIBIOTECH has secured a strategic partnership with...
PharmaJet technology selected for polio immunisation efforts
In June 2024, PharmaJet announced that the Tropis Intradermal (ID) Needle-free System will be used for a house-to-house polio immunisation in Somalia. The campaign, a collaboration of the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), WHO, UNICEF, BMGF, Gavi, and CDC,...
Fighting fusions: a mAb for measles protection efforts
Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) Centre for Vaccine Innovation are exploring ways to prevent the fusion of measles “machinery” with host cell membranes. Using an imaging technique called cryo-electron microscopy, they have shown “in unprecedented...
IDT Biologika and SK bioscience announce partnership
IDT Biologika and SK bioscience announced a strategic partnership in June 2024, with SK bioscience to acquire 60% of IDT Biologika’s shares from the Klocke Group, which will remain the second largest stakeholder. The partnership, described as a “leap forward into...
ILiAD and Emmes to conduct Phase III pertussis studies
ILiAD Biotechnologies announced in June 2024 that Emmes Group has been chosen to conduct Phase III studies of its lead pertussis vaccine candidate, BPZE1. The organisations are finalising the definitive agreement, but ILiAD stated that Emmes Group was selected “for...
Osivax completes enrolment for OVX033 Phase I trial
Osivax announced in June 2024 that it has completed enrolment for its Phase I trial of OVX033, a broad-spectrum vaccine candidate against sarbecoviruses. The study will evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of OVX033 with three dose levels (100µg, 250µg and 500µg)....
AstriVax takes novel vaccine platform to clinical trial
AstriVax announced in June 2024 that the first participants have been dosed in a Phase I clinical study to investigate the safety and efficacy of their prophylactic vaccines for yellow fever and rabies in healthy adults. The first-in-human clinical study is called...
