(Alliance News) - Scancell Holdings PLC on Thursday said it has secured funding from Innovate UK to start a phase 1 clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine in 2021.
Shares in Scancell were up 14% at 8.40 pence in London in morning trading.
The company, which develops immunotherapies for cancer and infectious disease, said a Scancell-led consortium obtained the funding though the 'UK Research & Innovation Ideas to Address Covid-19' funding strand.
Scancell is expected to receive around GBP2 million of the consortium awarded funding, which it expects to cover most development and phase 1 Covidity trial costs.
Scancell said its DNA vaccine targets the SARS-COV-2 nucleocapsid protein as well as the key receptor-binding domain of the spike protein, generating a response from immune cells called T cells as well as virus neutralising antibodies.
The company noted that the nucleocapsid protein is "highly conserved amongst coronaviruses" which means the new vaccine could protect not just against SARS-CoV-2 but also future strains of the virus.
Lindy Durrant, chief scientific officer at Scancell, said: "T cells, and particularly high avidity T cells, are becoming increasingly recognised as an important factor in vaccine design for inducing long-term immunity against SARS CoV-2. Patients who had recovered from the original 2003 SARS infection have measurable T cell responses many years following recovery. We have been able to translate our ability to stimulate high avidity T cells to treat melanoma into a vaccine that can potentially provide an effective and durable immune response to Covid-19."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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Scancell Holdings (SCLP)