Philantropic $3.6 Billion CEPI organisation and ExcellGene planning to enter clinical trial for Global Defense with one molecule to protect against multiple COVID virus variants.
A delegation of CEPI (Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation) was received by ExcellGene SA, the biotech service company in Monthey, on December 4th for a two day scientific discussion event. The meeting was held together with delegations from India (Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad, India) and Australia (University of Sydney, Prof. Jamie Triccas) which, together with ExcellGene, constitutes a three – party consortium funded by CEPI with a grant of 19 million US dollars. The project has the goal to develop a “Pan-protective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine” hoping to show protection against all past and future variant of concern of the Corona virus. Initiated 2020 by ExcellGene’s research and funded since April 2022 deep insights into the immunogenicity of the various COVID virus variants have emerged. The collaboration showed that ultrapure antigen preparations made by scientists and engineers at ExcellGene in Monthey with the help of Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells in bioreactors are highly immunogenic in animals and potentially in humans and can be made in very large quantities. In fact, ExcellGene demonstrated that a single 40 L bioreactor based production run can provide antigens in sufficient quantity to immunize about 5 million people, i.e. half of the Swiss population. Most promising data were shared on an ExcellGene patented principle for generating chimaeric antigens. In this case, the Corona protein was initially called “FRANKENSPIKE” in reference to the novel by Mary Shelley. This protein carries mutations within the “Wuhan” virus spike that recaptures structural features of the later emerging variants as a composite.
The meeting concluded with an enthusiastic endorsement by the CEPI delegation. Plans were outlined for moving forward in the coming summer towards clinical trials in Australia of the antigen preparation together with a powerful adjuvant (a compound that enhances immune reactions in animals and humans).
Dr. Maria J. Wurm, CEO stated: “This important meeting with CEPI and our consortium partners has very much encouraged us to further advance this project despite waning public interest in COVID-19 vaccines. We see currently obtained and future data as crucial to address new infectious threats with our fast-response technology”. Stay tuned to follow ExcellGene’s journey for the latest developments in the global defense against COVID – innovating for a safer tomorrow.