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(Alliance News) - Frontier IP Group shares jumped on Monday when it announced that its portfolio company, Vaccine Group Ltd, had achieved a milestone in the development of its novel Covid-19 vaccine.
Shares in the London-based company were up 12% at 111.00 pence each on Monday morning in London.
The intellectual property commercialisation company said Plymouth-based Vaccine Group, in which it holds a 17% stake, received some positive trial data for its Covid jab.
The data showed that the vaccine, which is based on a new herpesvirus platform technology, showed a strong T-cell response and provided broad immunity for Covid-19 and variants.
Frontier IP also noted that the jab is not "blunted" by preexisting immunity against the vaccine platform, which would allow for repeated usage as a booster shot after the initial vaccination.
TVG and its international partners have so far been backed by more than GBP9 million in grant funding from the US, UK and China.
The company's two main target areas are zoonotic diseases, which jump from animals to humans, and economically damaging diseases in livestock.
"These very strong trial results show that a Covid-19 vaccine based on our novel herpesvirus platform could prove to be extremely effective in mitigating the long-term impact of the disease. We are clearly excited about the potential for the vaccine," TVG Chief Executive Jeremy Salt said.
Frontier IP Chief Executive Neil Crabb added: "The first generation of Covid-19 vaccines have had a fantastic impact. However, Covid-19 is not going to disappear, so there is a need for a new generation of vaccines. There is a growing body of evidence to show that stimulating a T cell response confers longer-lasting immunity than other approaches and also offers the potential to provide protection against current and future variants of the disease."
By Abby Amoakuh; abbyamoakuh@alliancenews.com
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