ExpreS2ion announces grant award for the development of new platforms for universal mucosal vaccines
Hørsholm, Denmark, March 3, 2023 – ExpreS2ion Biotech Holding AB’s affiliate ExpreS2ion Biotechnologies ApS (“ExpreS2ion") announces that the MucoVax consortium has been awarded an Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD) Grand Solutions grant for the development of new platforms for universal mucosal vaccines in a 5-year research project in a collaboration between ExpreS2ion and University of Copenhagen. The award funding covers 71% of the research project and amounts to 29 MDKK (approx. 43 MSEK), of which ExpreS2ion directly is funded with 9.6 MDKK (approx. 14 MSEK). The IFD investment funds 67% of ExpreS2ion’s share of the research project budget.
The aim of the grant is to support the MucoVax consortium in the development of new platforms for universal mucosal vaccines, including performing animal models to test in vivo novel influenza vaccines delivered intranasally. The ambitious aim is to combine ExpreS2ion’s unique ExpreS2™ protein production system with the fundamental knowledge in immunology and microbiology of the University of Copenhagen including novel and advanced vaccine platforms.
The MucoVax consortium members are world-leading experts in their respective fields, covering all relevant areas of viral research and vaccine development required for preclinical development of a universal mucosal influenza vaccine. This includes pre-clinical and clinically validated experience from working with malaria pathogens and the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus, applying ExpreS2ion’s Drosophila S2 insect cell expression system, and unique know-how in exploration of adjuvants and virus-like particle (VLP) technologies.
CEO Bent Frandsen comments
“The MucoVax project is a new collaboration with University of Copenhagen that fits perfectly with our vaccine development capabilities in the infectious diseases field. There is an important medical need for universal mucosal vaccines, and we appreciate the Grand Solutions grant to work closely between ExpreS2ion and University of Copenhagen in this field.”
About the MucoVax research project
The MucoVax project seeks to combine the advanced protein expression capabilities of ExpreS2ion with the advanced vaccine approaches and animal models of the University of Copenhagen to develop a high-production, recombinant general vaccine platform exploiting molecularly adjuvanted nanoparticles in casu aiming at the development of a vaccine capable of inducing protective antibody and cellular immune responses against influenza virus, a highly contagious lung infection of considerable pandemic concern.
About University of Copenhagen and the MucoVax consortium members
From the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Copenhagen, participating professors Søren Buus, Jan Pravsgaard Christensen, and Allan Randrup Thomsen, contribute with expertise and experimental experience in vaccinology, immunology, infectious immunology, virology, animal models of infectious diseases, and advanced analysis of human and experimental animal immune responses. Several spin-out companies have emanated from these participants, and patented vaccine technologies are currently in clinical trials.
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