Nanocap Soligenix Rips Higher On Licensing Of COVID-19 Vaccine Adjuvant

Shares of rare disease biopharma Soligenix, Inc. SNGX were spiking higher Thursday after the company announced a coronavirus-related licensing agreement.

The Princeton, New Jersey-based company said it has signed an agreement with BTG Specialty Pharma, a Boston Scientific Corporation BSX unit, for the exclusive worldwide license of CoVaccine HT, a novel vaccine adjuvant, for SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19.

Vaccine adjuvants are not vaccines per se, but they serve to boost the immunogenicity of vaccines.

Soligenix announced in late March that it is expanding its ongoing collaboration with University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa to assess potential coronavirus vaccines, including SARS-CoV-2.

The CoVaccine HT has previously shown its utility in the development of Soligenix's heat stable filovirus vaccine program, including vaccine candidates for the Ebola and Marburg virus diseases, according to the company.

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"We are very excited to include CoVaccine HT into our heat stable vaccine platform technology. It has the potential to provide a distinct advantage over other vaccines currently in development," CEO Christopher Schaber said in a statement.

"With the rapid advancement of the vaccine platform, we feel the program is optimally poised to look at other viruses, including coronaviruses."