(Press Release – Basseterre, St. Kitts): Entos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Entos), a Canadian biotechnology company, announced the first human dosing of its COVID-19 DNA vaccine candidate, Covigenix VAX-001, on April 15th, in phase 1/2 clinical trials.
The trials were initiated after successful primate immunological studies were conducted without live virus by Virscio, Inc. at the St. Kitts Biomedical Research Foundation. Seventy-two healthy volunteers will be enrolled in the study to confirm the phase 1 objective of vaccine safety before advancing to phase 2 to evaluate efficacy. Entos’ Covigenix VAX-001 DNA vaccine is similar in function to the globally approved mRNA COVID-19 vaccines; both give instructions to cells in the body to produce the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and stimulate effective immunity against COVID.
However, as DNA is inherently more stable than mRNA, Covigenix VAX-001 is stable at refrigerated and room temperatures for a longer time. Temperature stability is a critical property that simplifies the mass production and distribution of Covigenix VAX-001 compared to current vaccines.
Entos’ core technology, the Fusogenix platform, also allows for rapid redesigning of vaccine candidates with new DNA sequences to protect against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Both qualities hold great promise in the global fight against the pandemic. Access to extensive primate research capabilities and scientific expertise at Virscio and the St. Kitts Biomedical Research Foundation were important drivers to Entos’ pursuit of their development program at the facility. These strengths uniquely position St. Kitts and Nevis to contribute to further important vaccine advances and biomedical innovation.