Rokote Laboratories will collaborate with CDMO Exothera to bring its intranasal coronavirus vaccine, FINCoVac 2.0, to clinical Phase I/II trials. Exothera will be responsible for finetuning the industrialisation of the FINCOVAC 2.0 process and manufacturing clinical material for trials.
The vaccine, based on adenoviral vector gene transfer technology, is designed to address the most critical current coronavirus variants. According to Rokote, it programmes the nasopharyngeal cells to produce an immune response-inducing modified SARS-CoV-2-viral spike protein. The vaccine is intended as an easy-to-administer booster for those already fully vaccinated with other coronavirus vaccines.
Exothera specialises in the industrialisation of vaccine and gene therapy processes with expertise in modern scalable bioreactors, downstream process technologies and GMP manufacturing. The company offers a full-service model, managing all the elements of the product development value chain, from process development to manufacturing.
Hanna Lesch, CTO at Exothera: “Exothera’s leading viral manufacturing expertise fits perfectly with Rokote Laboratories’ needs. As a Finn, I am proud to be part of the Finnish FINCoVac vaccine program. We are excited to continue supporting the ongoing fight against the coronavirus pandemic.”
Erkko Ylösmäki, Director of R&D, Rokote Laboratories Finland: ”Exothera’s manufacturing capabilities, the full-service model, and the outstanding commitment to rapid manufacturing of our vaccine for the Phase I/II trials is everything we were looking for from a CDMO. We are excited to start this collaboration to address the global need for an easy-to-administer COVID-19 vaccine that can not only prevent the disease but can also prevent those vaccinated from further transmitting the SARS-CoV-2 virus.”
