Key Highlights:
- Premas Biotech has inked a licensing agreement with Oravax Medical Inc. to develop and commercialize its vaccine technology in India.
- The VLP vaccination technique developed by Premas Biotech is highly scalable, has a low cost of goods, and is easily transferrable.
- The oral VLP COVID-19 vaccine is being developed to be used as a standalone vaccine as well as a booster.
Commercializing Vaccine Technology in India
Premas Biotech, a developer of new biotherapeutic and vaccine candidates, said that it has inked a licensing agreement with Oravax Medical Inc. to develop and commercialize its virus-like-particle COVID-19 vaccine technology in India.
Oravax Medical Inc. is a partnership formed between Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Premas Biotech. Oravax combines Premas Biotech’s virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine technology with Oramed’s patented protein oral delivery (PODTM) technology in the creation of oral vaccinations that are now only available by injection.
“Oravax has out-licensed certain rights in the territory of India to Premas Biotech, the original developer of the novel vaccine. As Oravax maintains its focus on oral vaccines, it has licensed to Premas the right to develop an injectable version of its VLP technology with an aim to address the urgent need for a vaccine which is effective against the Delta variant’, said Oravax in an official statement.
“Oravax’s VLP platform technology can be delivered either via injection or orally. Because Oravax is focused on oral vaccines, we saw a clear benefit to out-licensing rights to the injectable version in India, where there is an urgent need for vaccines,” said Nadav Kidron, CEO of Oramed, the majority shareholder in Oravax.
An innovative vaccine technology
Dr. Prabuddha Kundu, co-founder & MD at Premas Biotech said, “We are extremely proud to have designed and developed an innovative vaccine technology, here in India. Our technology is based on our difficult-to-express proteins platform, D-Crypt, and we believe it has multi-dimensional advantages over other existing technologies. We are thrilled that our technology is getting international recognition and are very excited about commercializing it here in India.”
The triple antigen Covid-19 vaccine candidate from Premas Biotech targets three SARS CoV-2 viral surface proteins, including proteins that are less prone to mutation, making the vaccine potentially effective against present and future COVID-19 virus strains. In pre-clinical trials, the VLP vaccine candidate is being tested against COVID-19 variations, including the Delta variant. The VLP vaccination technique developed by Premas Biotech is highly scalable, has a low cost of goods, and is easily transferrable.
Booster Injections
Premas intends to develop, test, and perhaps sell the injectable form of the VLP vaccine in India, where the COVID-19 vaccine market is expected to exceed $2.3 billion by 2027. India is presently racing to increase the rate of COVID-19 vaccines for its 1.4 billion-person population, as the country’s death toll from the epidemic has surpassed 400,000, with 31 million cases.
The oral VLP COVID-19 vaccine is being developed to be used as a standalone vaccine as well as a booster for those who have already been immunized against COVID-19. Booster injections are expected to be required for both general and at-risk groups, according to experts at the World Health Organization.
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