Oragenics Partners With KBI Biopharma To Produce Material For Its Intranasal COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate

Oragenics Inc OGEN has entered into an agreement with KBI Biopharma Inc for the process transfer, process optimization, and cGMP manufacturing of its intranasal vaccine candidate NT-CoV2-1.
The agreement covers, among other things, both a 200L demonstration run and a 500L cGMP run.
Completing work under this agreement will enable Oragenics to secure material for a future expected Phase 2 clinical trial.
"Intranasally delivered SARS-CoV-2 vaccines could provide increased protection in the nose and throat where viral entry occurs. This could lead to lower transmission of the virus compared to the currently available intramuscularly delivered vaccines as well as offering a needle-free delivery option," stated Frederick W. Telling, Ph.D., Executive Chairman of Oragenics.
Oragenics previously demonstrated encouraging immune response and reducing SARS-CoV-2 viral loads to undetectable levels in the nasal passages and lungs five days following a viral challenge in preclinical models.
The company intends to file an IND in 2022 to conduct a first-in-human clinical study with NT-CoV2-1.
Price Action: OGEN shares are down 4.89% at $0.35 during the market session on the last check Thursday.