Dutch vaccine maker Intravacc has announced that it is partnering with Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR) and Utrecht University on development of an intranasal Newcastle disease virus (NDV) vector vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 in humans. The company said that its Vero cell platform, which is FDA approved, would serve as the basis for a scalable process for production of the vaccine.
Intravacc explained, “The advantage of a nasal vaccination is that it induces both mucosal and systemic immunity, whereas an intramuscular vaccination primarily induces an antibody response. In addition, intranasal vaccination may also confer protection against infections at other mucosal sites, such as the lungs, intestines and genital tract. On top of this the nasal cavity is also easily accessible.”
Intravacc CEO Jan Groen commented, “Intravacc’s strength is its ability of bridging the gap between academia and research centers towards pharma. Together with our partners WBVR and Utrecht University, we combine our expertise in developing an intranasal corona virus vaccine. Our safe Vero cell platform, widely used for the production of polio vaccines, put us in the position to fast track the production of pilot lot of this NCD vector-based vaccine concept and to subsequently transfer this to large vaccine manufactures.”
Read the Intravacc press release.
