Novel SARS-CoV-2 vaccine program

The unmet medical need for new and/or improved vaccines against pathogens is outstanding and urgent. SARS-CoV-2, the causal agent of COVID-19, first emerged in late 2019 in China. It has since infected more than 10,000,000 individuals and caused more than 500,000 deaths globally. The development of vaccines having one of the subunits of the virus surface proteins has become very attractive in recent years. Recombinant antigens show a higher safety profile and lower reactogenicity, resulting in decreased side effects including autoimmune response in comparison with inactivated or attenuated vaccines. Avidin intends to exploit the subunit vaccine technology in combination of the use of liposomes allowing for highly specific immune response. The fast and efficient development of the recombinant protein as well as its encapsulation into the liposomes synthesized in the frame of the project allows us to project that the prototype vaccine can be further developed into a product that can be tested in animals in preclinical studies and can be used later in human clinical trials.