CEPI, aVaxziPen Collaborate To Advance Development Of Two Vaccines Candidates

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and aVaxziPen Ltd., a biotech company developing a novel needle-free vaccine delivery platform, have announced a partnership to advance the development of two vaccine candidates (one protein-based and one mRNA-based) using aVaxziPen's solid dose vaccine-delivery platform. This could help eliminate the need for vaccines to be kept frozen, enhancing equitable access to vaccines.

Advances in vaccine technology have been critical to the global response to Covid-19, but one of the challenges the world faced in getting these lifesaving vaccines to vulnerable populations—particularly those people in poorer countries—was the need to store them at low or very low temperatures. MRNA vaccines would be much simpler and less expensive to ship, store, and distribute in low-resource settings if the need for frozen storage were eliminated. The development of a protein vaccine platform that can withstand temperatures of up to 40°C for at least 1-2 months would help to simplify last-mile delivery of these vaccines, even in the most remote areas of the world, even though protein-based vaccines don't typically need frozen storage. aVaxziPen’s solid-dose vaccine technology uses a pen applicator device and is designed to address these challenges by protecting the mRNA and proteins against degradation, potentially removing the need for frozen storage for mRNA vaccines, and the need for cold-chain storage altogether for protein-based vaccines. The goal of CEPI and aVaxziPen is to make vaccines created through their collaboration accessible to all people worldwide. According to the funding agreement, aVaxziPen agreed to guarantee supply for low- and middle-income nations (LMICs), production of vaccine volumes needed to meet public health needs, affordable pricing for LMICs, and the potential transfer of technology to LMIC manufacturers in accordance with CEPI's Equitable Access Policy. “Equitable access is at the heart of CEPI’s mission. aVaxziPen’s innovative vaccine delivery technology requires little-to-no training to administer, while simultaneously reducing the need for expensive and burdensome cold-chain storage, allowing for easier distribution and administration. These innovations would ultimately help to enable greater access to potentially lifesaving vaccines in lower resource settings when a future outbreak or pandemic threat emerges,” said Anand Ekambaram, executive director of manufacturing and supply chain, CEPI.

“We’re delighted to be working with CEPI as an important strategic partner to demonstrate the great potential of our vaccine technology. Collaboratively we will bring our solid-dose vaccine formulations to two vaccines to demonstrate significantly improved and extended thermostability, as well as testing immunogenicity with plans to progress into phase 1 clinical trials. This is a great step forward in our mission to disrupt the vaccine market, providing improved vaccine coverage around the world, reaching under-served populations and markets,” said Robin Cohen, chief business officer, aVaxziPen. CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organisations, launched in 2017, to develop vaccines against future epidemics. Its mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need.