Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will offer its pandemic vaccine adjuvant technology to improve the development of a successful vaccine against the deadly Coronavirus
GSK partners with CEPI to develop Coronavirus vaccine. Credit: Gerd Altmann/Pixabay.
UK-based pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has joined forces with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop a vaccine for the novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses, which cause respiratory illness, including Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).
Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will offer its pandemic vaccine adjuvant technology to improve the development of a successful vaccine against the deadly Coronavirus.
The use of an adjuvant enables the production of more vaccine doses and therefore would increase availability to more people.
CEPI CEO Dr Richard Hatchett said: “Gaining access to GSK’s world-leading adjuvant technology is a huge step forward in developing a vaccine against the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV.
“Coupling GSK’s adjuvant systems with the pioneering platform technology we are funding has the potential to make more vaccine available more rapidly – by decreasing the dose of vaccine antigen required to protect each individual.
“This “antigen-sparing” effect makes a given supply of vaccine go farther, increasing the number of people who can benefit.”
GSK sign agreement with University of Queensland to develop a molecular clamp vaccine platform in January
GSK will partner with organisations funded by the CEPI with the first of these agreements agreed between the UK-based drugmaker and the University of Queensland.
Since January 2019, the partnership is working together for the development of a molecular clamp vaccine platform to allow targeted and rapid vaccine production against multiple viral pathogens.
Furthermore, CEPI has invested funds to work on a 2019-nCoV virus vaccine candidate. The organisation will also help give access to the GSK adjuvant technology, helping in early-stage research.
GSK Vaccines chief medical officer Thomas Breuer said: “As a leader in science and innovation, we believe we can help to contribute to the fight against 2019-nCOV with one of our advanced vaccine adjuvant systems.
“Our adjuvant technology has previously been used successfully in the pandemic flu setting. It enables using only small quantities of the vaccine antigen which allows the production of more doses of the vaccine – a crucial advantage in a pandemic.”