A new experimental Covid-19 vaccine from the University of Oxford has begun human trials in Australia in partnership with the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.
The shot was devised by SpyBiotech, a British company founded in Oxford in 2017 by researchers who worked alongside Adrian Hill and Sarah Gilbert at the university’s Jenner Institute. The institute has one of the most advanced Covid-19 intakes currently in end-stage testing in partnership with AstraZeneca Plc.
SpyBiotech’s experimental injection, one of several dozen vaccines in human trials around the world, has begun taking volunteers in a phase I / II trial in Australia led by the Serum Institute, which will eventually enroll several hundred of participants, said Sumi Biswas, the company. Executive Director and Professor of the Oxford Department of Nuffield Medicine.
The vaccine uses a virus-like particle of hepatitis B antigen as a carrier, employing the company’s proprietary SpyCatcher / SpyTag “superglue” technology to bind the coronavirus spike protein to induce an immune response. The virus-like particle has been used for decades in a licensed hepatitis B vaccine. SpyBiotech’s technology allows antigens to bind to virus-like particles in a way that improves stability and efficacy, Biswas said in a interview.
“It’s a bacterial superglue technology that allows it to bind antigens on different vaccine delivery platforms,” he said. “Covid has definitely accelerated the development of our company’s platform.”
Biswas earned his Ph.D. from Oxford and worked for years at the Jenner Institute developing a vaccine against malaria. She is still a Jenner researcher.
SpyBiotech has an exclusive license agreement with the Serum Institute for the vaccine. The institute reached a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca earlier this year to produce 1 billion doses of the Oxford injection developed by Gilbert.
SpyBiotech has raised £ 15 million ($ 19.8 million) in funding from investors such as GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Oxford Sciences Innovation.
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