iBio (NYSE AMERICAN:IBIO) and CC-Pharming are expanding the scope of their partnership with the planned development of a new 2019-nCoV vaccine to be manufactured using iBio’s FastPharming system.
The companies aim to deliver vaccine candidates for rapid production at iBio’s FastPharming manufacturing facility, which was funded by DARPA’s “Blue Angel” program. The program aims to establish facilities capable of rapid delivery of medical countermeasures in response to a disease pandemic.
iBio noted that the FastPharming technology has produced antibody candidates for Ebola and Dengue fever viruses. The company has also completed human and animal studies for yellow fever, human papilloma, seasonal influenza and avian influenza vaccine candidates. CC-Pharming has conducted work on the MERS-coronavirus that was first identified in 2012.
“We are optimistic about the potential to combine iBio’s and CC-Pharming’s technical expertise and then deploy the FastPharming system to contribute to the development of a vaccine for this disease,” Robert Kay, iBio’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
Dr. Kevin Wang, CC-Pharming’s chairman and CSO, commented, “This is an important collaboration to develop plant-derived vaccine strategies for the emerging coronavirus outbreak here in China, and around the world. iBio’s capabilities will enhance our ability to rapidly scale-up vaccine candidate production in effort to combat the 2019-nCoV virus’ threat to global health.”
