Emergex Vaccines Holding Ltd., a company tackling major global infectious disease threats through the development of 100% synthetic T-Cell priming vaccines, confirmed that its vaccine candidate for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, has the potential to be effective against all currently known variants.
 
Emergex has initiated a Phase I trial of the vaccine candidate at the Center for Primary Care and Public Health at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
 
Professor Thomas Rademacher, Founder at Emergex Vaccines, said, “Our T-Cell priming vaccines have been designed to offer significant benefits over current COVID-19 vaccines including broader protection against new variants and longer lasting immunity. The emergence of the latest variant highlights the potential importance of such an approach in managing a dynamically changing pandemic situation. We look forward to continuing to gather data to support the development of this important next generation vaccine.”

Emergex’s vaccines aim to prime naive CD8+ T-Cells to generate virus specific CTLs (CD8+ T-cells/Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes) to kill viral infected cells, preventing viral replication and disease and reducing symptoms and the transmissibility between infected and non-infected individuals.
 
Emergex’s T-Cell priming vaccines have the potential to be more effective in targeting rapidly mutating viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and eliminate the need for seasonal booster vaccines in comparison to current vaccine technologies, which primarily rely on an antibody immune response. In addition, Emergex’s vaccine is raised against antigens that are highly conserved so may provide cross reactive immunity to SARS-CoV-1 infection and all SARS-CoV-2 variants and strains of the virus, offering broad immune protection from two pandemic viruses in one vaccine.
 
Emergex vaccines have been designed to be administered via the skin using microneedles and to be stable at ambient room temperature for beyond three months, facilitating rapid and efficient distribution.