- IMV Inc (TSX:IMV) has announced that it will fast-track the development of a potential COVID-19 vaccine
- The company’s development program will work to produce a viable vaccine using IMV’s DPX delivery technology
- IMV will collaborate on the project with experts from a number of Canadian health institutions
- Bullet Point 4
- IMV’s share price is up 25.86 per cent, and is currently trading at $3.65 per share
Biopharmaceutical company IMV Inc (TSX:IMV) has announced that it will advance the clinical development of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
IMV, which has a history of producing immunotherapies, aims to use its proprietary DPX technology to create a viable vaccine. DPX is IMV’s patented lipid-based drug delivery platform.
The development program will try to determine how clinically safe the vaccine candidate is, and how effectively it triggers immune responses.
IMV believes that combining the DPX platform with peptides, which will target the COVID strain’s epitopes, will potentially accelerate development. It may also make it easier to produce the vaccine on a rapid and large scale.
The company will develop its candidate, DPX-COVID-19, in a Phase I clinical study, in collaboration with Canadian experts. These include Dr Joanne Langley, MD, and Dr Scott Halperin, MD, and Dr Gary Kobinger, PhD.
Drs Langley and Halperin come from the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology (CCfV) at Dalhousie University, the Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre, the Nova Scotia Health Authority, and the Canadian Immunisation Research Network (CIRN).
Dr Kobinger is Director of the Research Centre on Infectious Diseases at Université Laval, and Global Urgent and Advanced Research and Development (GUARD) in Canada.
These investigators will help with the preclinical and clinical evaluation of the vaccine candidate. They may also assist with further development strategies, in collaboration with the Canadian government.
IMV CEO, Frederic Ors, stated the company understood the urgent need to find solutions to the growing pandemic.
“In many clinical studies, we have observed DPX technology elicit a robust, sustained immune response, including in sensitive populations.
We believe this technology offers a solution as a potential vaccine, especially in older adults and those with pre-existing conditions. They are most at risk to this virus, and generally more difficult to vaccinate effectively.
We are pleased to be collaborating on this project with Dr Langley, Dr Halperin, and Dr Kobinger. They are leading voices in immunisation and infection diseases, and share our commitment to public health,” Frederic said.
IMV’s share price is up 25.86 per cent, and is currently trading at $3.65 per share, as of 12:00pm EST.
