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Tonix Pharmaceuticals and Southern Research Announce Expansion of COVID-19 Vaccine Collaboration
Plan to Produce Blueprint of How the Human Immune System Responds to Infection Caused by SAR-CoV-2, the Virus that Causes COVID-19 Results Expected to Support
About this update from Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"Plan to Produce Blueprint of How the Human Immune System Responds to Infection Caused by SAR-CoV-2, the Virus that Causes COVID-19\n Results Expected to Support Tonix’s Anticipated Regulatory Filings for TNX-1800, a Live Replicating Virus Vaccine Designed to Elicit T Cell Immunity in Addition to Antibodies NEW YORK, June 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: TNXP) (Tonix or the Company), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today an expansion of its strategic collaboration with Southern Research to include a study of T cell immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in volunteers who have recovered or remain asymptomatic after exposure to COVID-19. The research is part of an ongoing and broader collaboration between Tonix and Southern Research to develop and conduct animal testing of Tonix’s TNX-1800, which is a live replicating virus vaccine designed to protect against COVID-19. The data will support the interpretation of animal trial results with TNX-1800, which are expected in the fourth quarter of 2020 and subsequent human trials. “More than 200 years of vaccine experience, beginning with Dr. Edward Jenner’s landmark discoveries with horsepox and cowpox vaccines, have shown that T cell eliciting vaccines are particularly effective against viruses,” said Seth Lederman, M.D., President and CEO of Tonix. “We believe that protective vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus will be similar in that regard. The data we plan to collect from recovered and asymptomatic COVID-19 volunteers will inform vaccine development on how to safely provide to vaccine recipients the same immune responses that others got from recovering from actual CoV-2 infection. If approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in healthy, non-pregnant adults without moderate or severe eczema, TNX-1800 would feature single-dose immunity without the use of adjuvants, ease of manufacturing on readily available systems, and glass-sparing distribution since we believe 100 doses of TNX-1800 could be packaged in a single vial. Our goal with TNX-1800 is to develop a vaccine that is well tolerated, produces strong, long-lasting immunity, and can be rapidly and broadly deployed.” Dr. Lederman, a former tenured professor at Columbia Medical School, who has made original contributions to immunology and virology, contin...