CanSino Biologics and Precision NanoSystems (PNI) announced a co-development agreement of a mRNA lipid nanoparticle (mRNA-LNP) vaccine against COVID-19. The parties will leverage PNI's proprietary RNA vaccine platform, comprising of lipid nanoparticle delivery system and the NanoAssemblr® manufacturing technology, to rapidly advance a COVID-19 mRNA-LNP vaccine candidate towards human clinical testing and pursuant to regulatory approvals, commercialization in different regions. PNI will be responsible for development of the mRNA-LNP vaccine and CanSinoBIO will be responsible for pre-clinical testing, human clinical trials, regulatory approval and commercialization. CanSinoBIO has rights to commercialize the vaccine product in Asia (except Japan) with PNI retaining rights for rest of the world. The agreement includes undisclosed payments and royalties.
CanSinoBIO is working to develop COVID-19 vaccine though their efforts utilizing Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) candidate (the Ad5-nCoV ) currently in phase II clinical trial in China. CanSinoBIO recently announced a collaboration with the National Research Council of Canada to initiate clinical testing of the Ad5-nCoV vaccine candidate in Canada. In parallel to clinical development of Ad5-nCoV, CanSinoBIO wants to join efforts with PNI to develop and commercialize a mRNA-LNP based vaccine.
"Our team has been dedicated to developing safe and effective vaccines to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Since RNA vaccines are a disruptive technology as they do not require cell culture, utilize synthetic delivery and have a smaller manufacturing footprint, our partnership with PNI to advance a mRNA-LNP vaccine candidate will not only help accelerate the process, but will also potentially revolutionize the vaccine industry," CanSinoBIO's co-founder, chairman and CEO Dr. Xuefeng Yu said.