CVC has developed a proprietary antigen designed to induce what is known as a cytotoxic immune response. This type of immune response primes the immune system to specifically kill only those cells that have become infected with virus. There are very few COVID-19 vaccines in development that take an approach that is focussed specifically on a cytotoxic immune response. 

We have the option of displaying our antigen on the surface of biobeads. CVC has access to a well-researched technology originally developed at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. The technology enables the efficient production of tiny biobeads that are coated in whatever protein or polypeptide one chooses. In our case, these biobeads could be coated in a proprietary polypeptide derived from parts of the SARS-Cov-2 virus.

Round biobeads that have formed inside a bacterium

The main aspects of the biobeads technology are:

• the bead-protein complex (the biobead) is produced in vivo in bacteria.
• The bead itself is a polyester and is biodegradable and biologically inert.
• The biobeads are grown at high cell density which keeps production costs down.
• Proteins are displayed at high density on the surface of biobeads.
• The system is versatile. Proteins with many different functionalities can be displayed on the biobeads.
• Functionalities of proteins displayed on biobeads are well maintained.
• The biobeads have been shown to be of use in developing other vaccines including hepatitis C, tuberculosis, meningococcal meningitis and pneumococcal diseases (all tested in animals but not humans).