A COVID-19 vaccine developed at the University of Washington School of Medicine has proven safe and effective in late-stage clinical testing. SK bioscience, the company leading the vaccine’s clinical development, will seek authorization for its use in South Korea within the month.
The Seattle scientists behind the new vaccine sought to create a ‘second-generation’ vaccine for COVID-19 that is safe, effective at low doses, simple to manufacture at scale, and stable without deep freezing. These attributes would enable vaccination at a global scale by reaching people in areas where medical, transportation, and storage resources are limited.
If GPB510 receives full approval from regulators, it will be made available through COVAX, an international effort working to equitably distribute COVID vaccines around the world. In addition, the South Korean government has entered a purchase agreement to secure 10 million doses for domestic use.
The University of Washington is licensing the vaccine technology royalty-free for the duration of the pandemic in keeping with Association of University Technology Managers guidelines.
A multinational Phase 3 trial involving 4,037 adults over 18 years of age found that the vaccine, dubbed GPB510, elicits higher levels of protective antibodies than the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine Vaxzevria. In these studies, GPB510 or Vaxzevria was administered twice with an interval of 4 weeks.
