Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited, a company tackling major global infectious disease threats through the development of synthetic ‘set point’ vaccines which prime the T-Cell immune response, has signed a collaboration and development agreement with the Institute of Technology on Immunobiologicals (Bio-Manguinhos) of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) in Brazil to develop a COVID-19 vaccine using Emergex’s next generation synthetic T-Cell vaccine technology.
 
The agreement provides a framework under which both parties will work together to progress certain immunotherapeutic programs, including a vaccine candidate for COVID-19, through a regulatory pathway for the Brazilian National Health Service. Emergex will also support the performance of studies, including clinical trials, and to manufacture, market, promote and distribute certain infectious diseases vaccines within the National Health Service of Brazil.
 
Emergex has already completed preclinical development work including toxicology and immunoproteomic research into the MHC Class I peptide expression library for cell surface expressed peptides on SARS-Cov-2 infected cells, which define the repertoire of an effective T-Cell immune response to the COVID-19 disease.
 
In August 2020, a previous research collaboration between Emergex and Bio-Manguinhos / Fiocruz resulted in the determination of the MHC CD8 T-Cell epitope expression library for Fiocruz’s commercial yellow fever vaccine.
 
Bio-Manguinhos / Fiocruz and Emergex will share initial set up and development costs. Further financial details have not been disclosed.
 
Storme Moore-Thornicroft, COO and co-founder of Emergex, commented, “Bio-Manguinhos Institute of the Oswald Cruz Foundation, is a world leader in the development and manufacturing of vaccines. This agreement, which will enable us to work alongside Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz to develop our COVID-19 vaccine candidate, is an important validation of the potential of our technology. Access to a COVID-19 vaccine which is both easy to manufacture and deploy is critical, particularly in a country as large as Brazil and where there have been more than 6 million cases of COVID-19 reported to date.”
 
Sotiris Missailidis, deputy director of Technological Development of Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz, commented, “Given the geographical scale and logistical difficulties that underlie distributing a vaccine across Brazil, Emergex’s expertise and technology could play a vital role in overcoming such challenges, including the potential to allow for mass rollout of a vaccine for COVID-19.”
 
He continued, “Emergex vaccines are 100% synthetic, requiring no biology for manufacturing, making rapid scale-up and production possible. Furthermore, delivery through a microneedle system on a single patch, make them easy to administer, requiring less clinical intervention, and allowing for wider public adoption. We look forward to working with Emergex on this and other co-development projects to bring safe and affordable vaccines to the Brazilian public market.”