Vaxil Enters Into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement With U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases ("USAMRIID")
VAXIL BIO LTD. ("Vaxil" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: VXL), an innovative immunotherapy biotech company specializing in cancer and infectious diseases, is pleased to announce that on October 26, 2020, it has entered into a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with USAMRIID under which USAMRIID will test CorVax(TM) for its ability to specifically prevent COVID-19 in mice.
Vaxil recently reported that its CorVax(TM) successfully generated an immune response in the experiment carried out at the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit at the Medical Research, Infrastructure, and Health Services Fund of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Israel by Dr. David Hagin. As a result, the Company is progressing to the next study to test whether this immune response is specific enough to COVID-19 to provide protection against the virus in a mouse model.
As scientists and companies race to find vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infection, some platforms are focused on mRNA, others on viral vectors, viruses and various subunits. Vaxil is, to the best of the Company's knowledge, the only company working with signal peptides, which offer unique advantages of efficacy in stimulating a broad immune response while achieving a suitable safety profile. Vaxil's signal peptide platform has proven safety in a phase 1/2a study in oncology.
"The initial immunogenicity data sound intriguing," said Dr. Joseph W. Golden, a principal investigator in USAMRIID's virology division. "We look forward to evaluating this vaccine formulation for its potential to protect against SARS-CoV-2 in our mouse models."
The work to be performed by USAMRIID will be financed out of the Company's existing working capital, according to David Goren, Vaxil's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The team hopes to secure additional funding for future studies.
"We are pleased to have USAMRIID assess our potential COVID-19 vaccine," said Goren. "The work in the US will support and strengthen the experiments we have already done in Israel in our in-vivo study. Together, the combined research will help the Company plan and execute more efficient pre-clinical and clinical programs."
The Company is not making any express or implied claims that it has completed developing or will be successful in developing a COVID-19 (or SARS-CoV-2) vaccine at this time.
