Soligenix, Inc , a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases where there is an unmet medical need, announced that it has executed an agreement for the exclusive worldwide license of CoVaccine HT , a novel vaccine adjuvant, from BTG Specialty Pharmaceuticals , a division of Boston Scientific Corporation , for the fields of SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19 and pandemic flu.
CoVaccine HT is a novel adjuvant, which has been shown to enhance both cell-mediated and antibody-mediated immunity. Soligenix and its collaborators, including the University of Hawai?i at Mnoa and Dr. Axel Lehrer, have successfully demonstrated the utility of CoVaccine HT in the development of its heat stable filovirus vaccine program, with vaccine candidates against Ebola and Marburg virus disease. Given this previous success, CoVaccine HT will potentially be an important component of Soligenix’s vaccine technology platform currently being assessed for use against coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19.
“BTG has a long track record of technological innovation in the production of antibodies for rescue medicines. We’re pleased that, in the hands of Soligenix, CoVaccine HT could potentially play a role in helping to address the current pandemic,” said Anthony Higham, President of BTG.
“We are very excited to include CoVaccine HT into our heat stable vaccine platform technology. It has the potential to provide a distinct advantage over other vaccines currently in development,” stated Christopher J. Schaber, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Soligenix. “With the rapid advancement of the vaccine platform, we feel the program is optimally poised to look at other viruses, including coronaviruses.”
The agreement was executed between Soligenix and Protherics Medicines Development, one of the companies that make up the BTG Specialty Pharmaceutical business, which owns the CoVaccine HT intellectual property. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
About CoVaccine HT Adjuvant
An adjuvant is a substance which enhances the immune response and so helps maximize the production of antibodies. The CoVaccine HT adjuvant is a sucrose fatty acid sulphate ester that increases both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to experimental vaccines following intramuscular administration.
About BTG Specialty Pharmaceuticals
BTG Specialty Pharmaceuticals, a division of Boston Scientific Corporation, provides rescue medicines typically used in emergency rooms and intensive care units to treat patients for whom there are limited treatment options. BTG is dedicated to the development, manufacture, and commercialization of quality medicines that make a real difference to patients and their families. BTG’s current portfolio of antidotes counteracts certain snake venoms and the toxicity associated with some heart and cancer medications. To learn more, please visit: btgsp.com.
About Soligenix, Inc.
Soligenix is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases where there is an unmet medical need. Our Specialized BioTherapeutics business segment is developing SGX301 as a novel photodynamic therapy utilizing safe visible light for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, our first-in-class innate defense regulator (IDR) technology, dusquetide (SGX942) for the treatment of oral mucositis in head and neck cancer, and proprietary formulations of oral beclomethasone 17,21-dipropionate (BDP) for the prevention/treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders characterized by severe inflammation including pediatric Crohn’s disease (SGX203) and acute radiation enteritis (SGX201).
