GSK’s Vaccine Adjuvant Technology To Support Rapid Development Programs

London based GSK announced a new collaboration aimed at helping the global effort to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus known as 2019-nCoV.

In this collaboration, GSK agreed to make its established pandemic vaccine adjuvant platform technology available to enhance the development of an effective vaccine against 2019-nCoV.

This is good news since there is not a preventive vaccine targeted for the 2019-nCoV available today.

GSK and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) new collaboration announced on February 3, 2020, will coordinate engagements between GSK and entities funded by CEPI who are interested in testing their vaccine platform with GSK’s adjuvant technology.

An adjuvant is added to some vaccines to enhance the immune response, thereby creating a stronger and longer-lasting immunity against infections than the vaccine alone.

Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO, CEPI commented in a press release, “Coupling GSK’s adjuvant systems with the pioneering platform technology we are funding has the potential to make more vaccine available more rapidly – by decreasing the dose of vaccine antigen required to protect each individual.” 

“The ‘antigen-sparing’ effect makes a given supply of vaccine go farther, increasing the number of people who can benefit.”

CEPI said access to the GSK adjuvant technology will now support early-stage vaccine research, such as the efforts with CureVac, Inovio, The University of Queensland, and Moderna, Inc. and the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 

These programs will leverage rapid response platforms already supported by CEPI with the aim of advancing 2019-nCoV vaccine candidates into clinical testing as quickly as possible.

Both CEPI and GSK are committed to principles of equitable access and will work together in this collaboration to ensure that this principle governs the development, use, and access of any 2019-nCoV vaccine developed through the collaboration.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that can lead to respiratory illness, including Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

On January 7, 2020, the 2019-nCoV was identified as the cause of pneumonia cases in China, and additional cases have since then been found in a number of countries.

Real-time coronavirus outbreak news is published by Coronavirus Today. 

CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organizations, launched at Davos in 2017, to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics. CEPI has reached over US $750 million of its $1 billion funding target.

GSK is a science-led global healthcare company and a leading manufacturer of vaccines globally.

Additional 2019-nCoV vaccine development news can be found at Precision Vaccinations.