Gritsone Bio Secures CEPI Funding For Its Differentiated COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate

Gritstone bio Inc GRTS has entered into a funding agreement of up to $20.6 million with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
The funding will support Gritstone's COVID-19 vaccine program with an initial focus in South Africa.
The Company says that its unique approach combines a self-amplifying mRNA (SAM) platform with a broad set of viral antigens beyond spike intended to drive robust and durable immune responses comprising both neutralizing antibodies and CD8+ T cells.
With this antigenic breadth, the CORAL vaccine may offer protection against emerging spike variants that appear challenging for first-generation vaccines," said Andrew Allen, CEO.
Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization commented, "most first-generation COVID-19 vaccines primarily target the first-generation call for alternate approaches aimed at driving CD8+ immunity against spike and more conserved epitopes.
Under the terms of the agreement, CEPI will fund a multi-arm Phase 1 study evaluating the CORAL program in naïve, convalescent, and HIV+ patients.
The study will evaluate two SAM vaccine constructs targeting both the spike protein and other SARS-CoV-2 targets.
The trial is expected to initiate before the end of 2021.
Price Action: GRTS shares are up 4.34% at $8.33 during the premarket session on the last check Tuesday.