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Dynavax, CEPI, UQ join race to develop Covid-19 vaccine

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UQ will work with CEPI and Dynavax to develop a vaccine for Covid-19.

Mar 5 | 2 minutes read |

By U2B Staff 

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Dynavax Technologies, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercialising novel vaccines announced a new partnership with the University of Queensland (UQ)and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) for the development of a vaccine for Covid-19.

This partnership comes as an initiative by CEPI, to develop a vaccine that is set to prevent Covid-19 infections.

CEPI is leading multiple programs/partnerships that seek to improve the scientific understanding of the novel coronavirus and to develop vaccines against it, through its collaboration with the World Health Organisation.

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The university will support this initiative through its rapid response technology, designed to enable fast production of new vaccines, to create a new coronavirus vaccine.

This partnership builds upon its initial partnership with CEPI, focused on developing a “molecular clamp” vaccine platform, a technology that enables targeted and rapid vaccine production against multiple viral pathogens.

Through this co-developed technology, the university is not able to generate new vaccines from the knowledge of a virus’s genetic sequence information. This technology will expedite the process of developing a new vaccine against COVID-19.

 

Dynavax will contribute its technical expertise and its toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist adjuvant, CpG 1018 to lead this initiative toward its goal.

CpG 1018 is the adjuvant used in HEPLISAV-B(R) [Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant), Adjuvanted], an adult hepatitis B vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

CpG 1018 developed by Dynavax has proven to be an effective component in the adult hepatitis B vaccine by triggering an increased vaccine immune response.

CpG 1018 provides a well-developed technology and a significant safety database, potentially accelerating the development of a COVID-19 vaccine.

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Chief Executive Officer of Dynavax Technologies, Ryan Spencer commented on this research by saying that the comprehensive humanitarian response to address the risk of COVID-19 by the vaccine development community is a testament to the dedication the industry has to the global public health.

Spencer added that the company is proud to contribute to this global effort to develop a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 in collaboration with the team of researchers at the university.

    
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