31 July 2020 - - Dutch vaccine translational research and development company Intravacc and Switzerland-based biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organisation  Celonic Group have signed a research agreement to further design, develop and produce a Covid-19 vaccine based on an immunogenic Spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 combined with Intravacc's prorietary Outer Membrane Vesicle technology, the companies said.

In the beginning of March this year Intravacc started working on the development of four candidate coronavirus vaccines based on three proprietary technologies: Vero cell, OMV and iBoost.

For this specific joint vaccine development, Intravacc combines its safe and immunogenic OMV delivery platform with S-proteins expressed by Celonic Group's industry-leading CHOvolution mammalian cell expression sytem, in order to generate a highly effective and balanced B and T cell response against SARS-CoV-2.

Swiss based Celonic Group will construct cell lines producing the S-protein in high quantities and develop a GMP production process.

Preclinical studies will start shortly to select the best candidate protein for the vaccine. The collaboration aims to accelerate development of Intravacc's COVID-19 OMV protein vaccine, which is expected to enter clinical testing in 2021.

For the development of vaccines against pathogens, Intravacc has designed and developed a platform based on outer membrane vesicles spherical particles with intrinsic adjuvating properties. The OMVs can be decorated with immunogenic peptides and/or proteins that that will drive effective adaptive immunity.

The OMV carrier has been optimized to induce a more effective immune response against these newly introduced antigens.

Intravacc also has developed genetic tools to increase the yield of OMVs, to reduce toxicity, and to achieve the desired antigenic composition.

Intravacc's OMV platform is fully scalable and allows for fast and efficient modification of antigen composition, either via genetic modification of the bacterial host or by associating antigens to stockpiled carrier OMVs.

The Netherlands-based Intravacc is an institute for translational vaccinology.

As an established independent CDMO organisation with many years of experience in the development and optimisation of vaccines and vaccine technologies, Intravacc has transferred its technology all over the globe, including oral polio vaccines, measles vaccines, and DPT, Hib and influenza vaccines.

Intravacc offers a range of expertise to independently develop vaccines from lead concept to clinical phase I/II studies for partners worldwide such as academia, public health organisations (WHO, BMGF), and biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

Celonic Group is a privately-owned CDMO based in Basel, Switzerland, with a bio manufacturing facility in Heidelberg, Germany.