US government to fund up to $500 mln for studies on oral, nasal COVID vaccines

Vaxart

13/06/2024 23:28

June 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) said on Thursday it will provide up to $500
million for mid-stage trials evaluating vaccines administered as
a nasal spray or pill to protect against symptomatic COVID-19.
    The funding is part of Project NextGen, a $5 billion
initiative led by the Biomedical Advanced Research and
Development Authority (BARDA), to advance a pipeline of new,
innovative vaccines and therapeutics providing broader and more
durable protection against COVID-19 infection.
    BARDA, which helps companies develop medical supplies to
address public health threats, is a part of HHS.
    The project is awarding up to $453 million to Vaxart
 VXRT.O  for a study that will evaluate its oral COVID vaccine.
The company's shares more than doubled to $1.78 after market.
    It is also awarding privately held Castlevax and Cyanvac
around $34 million and $40 million, respectively, to develop
their intranasal vaccine candidates.
    Each trial will enroll 10,000 volunteers and compare the
efficacy and safety of the investigational vaccines to
FDA-licensed vaccines.
    "Currently approved COVID-19 vaccines are administered
intramuscularly and, while extremely effective, are limited in
their capacity to induce a robust immune response in mucosal
areas such as the mouth, nose and gut, where the SARS-CoV-2
virus first enters the body," the HHS said.

 (Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak
Dasgupta)
 ((Puyaan.Singh@thomsonreuters.com))