Protherics to enter $1.3M deal for CoVacc's adjuvant

London, UK-based Protherics has signed an agreement with CoVaccine BV, a Dutch vaccine specialist, to acquire the latter's novel adjuvant, which Protherics has selected for inclusion in its Angiotensin vaccine product, after screening a number of third party proprietary adjuvants.

In preclinical models, a new formulation of the vaccine with the CoVaccine adjuvant resulted in a 10-fold higher level of antibody production against angiotensin than the formulation previously used by Protherics in its Phase IIa study.

Protherics has now completed non-clinical safety testing of the CoVaccine adjuvant and is commencing Good Manufacturing Practices-based production of both the adjuvant and the vaccine, which will allow it to start a Phase IIa proof-of-concept study with the new formulation in the second half of next year. The goal of this study will be to confirm that the new formulation increases levels of anti-angiotensin antibodies in hypertensive patients and to establish whether this results in a reduction in blood pressure.