Healthy adults are invited to participate in a clinical trial at The Ottawa Hospital to test a multivalent coronavirus vaccine candidate.Healthy adults are invited to participate in a clinical trial at The Ottawa Hospital to test a multivalent coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by VBI Vaccines Inc., a biotechnology company with Ottawa-based research and development facilities. The Phase 1 study is expected to include approximately 100 healthy adults aged 18-64, all of whom will receive the vaccine candidate. Participants must have received at least two doses of licensed COVID-19 vaccines and must be at least six months past their most recent COVID-19 immunization.
The Ottawa Hospital site, led by Dr. Bill Cameron and Dr. Jonathan Angel, is one of multiple sites in Canada enrolling participants.
“Vaccination is the best way to protect against COVID-19 and we need to continue to develop new and better vaccines,” said Dr. Bill Cameron, Medical Director of Clinical Research and infectious disease specialist at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa. “This new vaccine candidate is promising because it is designed to provide broad immunity by targeting three beta-coronavirus strains that have infected humans over the last 20 years.”
The vaccine candidate, called VBI-2901, contains spike proteins from the viruses that cause COVID-19, SARS (identified in 2002), and MERS (identified in 2012). The spike proteins are embedded in a synthetic lipid envelope in order to mimic the natural presentation of viruses. The vaccine has no infectious genetic material and cannot replicate.
"This new vaccine candidate is promising because it is designed to provide broad immunity by targeting three beta-coronavirus strains that have infected humans over the last 20 years,” said Dr. Bill Cameron.VBI was founded in Ottawa by Dr. Francisco Diaz-Mitoma, Ph.D., M.D., formerly a scientist at CHEO and professor at the University of Ottawa, and currently Chief Medical Officer of VBI. The company maintains research and development facilities in Ottawa, with corporate headquarters in the United States and a research and manufacturing facility in Israel. VBI has also worked with The Ottawa Hospital’s Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre to support manufacturing of its vaccine cell line.
Individuals who participate in the VBI-2901 trial will be randomized to receive different doses of the experimental vaccine. Safety, tolerability and immune responses will be evaluated. Further trial details are available at clinicaltrials.gov. Ottawa residents who are interested in participating can call The Ottawa Hospital’s Clinical Investigation Unit at 613-737-8811 or email ciu@toh.ca to learn more.
