Covid-19 vaccine development is less Vaxart, more science

With phase III Covid-19 vaccine data coming thick and fast it is sometimes easy to forget that there is still a host of candidates in early development. One of those, Vaxart’s VXA-CoV2-1, looks like it might not be around for much longer, however, after disappointing data reported yesterday. A phase I study of the oral project failed to find neutralising antibodies in subjects’ serum, and most participants did not have an IgG response. But Vaxart has not given up: the company highlighted T-cell responses and said it would now broaden its Covid-19 vaccine development plans. The developer had hoped that, by including both the spike and N proteins, VXA-CoV2-1 could protect against new coronavirus variants. And, with many of the projects listed below beginning development before new variants emerged, the relevance of the remaining early pipeline might now be limited. The exceptions could come from Gritstone, which last month said it would soon take a more broadly acting candidate into phase I; and Curevac and Glaxosmithkline, which yesterday agreed to collaborate on next-gen mRNA projects, including a multivalent vaccine to address emerging variants.

Click here for our look at the mid/late-stage Covid-19 vaccine pipeline.