26 October 2020 - - Canada-based genetic medicine technologies and solutions provider Precision Nanosystems, Inc has received a commitment of up to CDN 18.2m in support from the government of Canada under the Innovation, Science and Economic Development's Strategic Innovation Fund to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, the company said.

PNI will use the investment to advance a best-in-class COVID-19 mRNA vaccine candidate to clinical trials.

PNI provides over 250 industry and academic partners with solutions for the development of vaccines, gene therapies, and cell therapies, in the areas of infectious diseases, oncology and rare diseases.

With this investment from the government of Canada, PNI's chief scientific officer, Dr. Andrew Geall, and his team will use their technology platforms and expertise in self-amplifying mRNA vectors, lipid-based drug delivery systems and nanomedicine manufacturing to develop a cost-effective COVID-19 vaccine.

As part of Canada's efforts to combat COVID-19, the Strategic Innovation Fund is working diligently to support projects led by the private sector for COVID-19 related vaccine and therapy clinical trials to advance Canada's medical countermeasures in the fight against COVID-19.

Bringing together its proprietary technology platforms, key partnerships and unparalleled expertise in nanomedicines, PNI is excited to be leading the development of a Made-in-Canada COVID vaccine. 

Precision NanoSystems is in developing the next wave of genetic medicines in infectious diseases, cancer and rare diseases.

We work with the world's leading drug developers to understand disease and create the therapeutics and vaccines that will define the future of medicine.

PNI offers proprietary technology platforms and comprehensive expertise to enable researchers to translate disease biology insights into non-viral genetic medicines.