Dynavax Announces Grant to Scale up CpG 1018 Adjuvant Capacity to Support the Global COVID-19 Response
August 13 2020 - 7:00AM
Dynavax Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq: DVAX), a
biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing
novel vaccines, today announced a grant from the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation of $3.4 million to scale up production batch size
to allow for increased capacity of Dynavax’s CpG 1018 advanced
adjuvant to support the global COVID-19 response. These efforts
will support capacity of up to 750 million adjuvant doses annually,
which can be further increased if needed.
“We are honored to receive this funding from the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support development of a
much-needed vaccine for COVID-19. This grant facilitates scale up
of production capacity to ensure the availability of CpG 1018 for
collaboration partners developing adjuvanted vaccines for
COVID-19,” commented Ryan Spencer, Chief Executive Officer of
Dynavax. “We believe adjuvants will play an important role in
developing effective vaccines for COVID-19, including for those
patients at greatest risk for severe disease. The ability of CpG
1018 to potentially provide an improved immune response and also
reduce the amount of vaccine antigen necessary will help provide
more vaccine doses to meet the global need.”
About Vaccine AdjuvantsAn
adjuvant is a pharmacological or immunological agent that modifies
the effect of other agents. Adjuvants are added to a vaccine to
boost the immune response to produce more antibodies and
longer-lasting immunity, thus minimizing the dose of antigen
needed. Adjuvants may also be used to enhance the efficacy of a
vaccine by helping to modify the immune response by particular
types of immune system cells.
About CpG 1018 AdjuvantCpG 1018
is the adjuvant used in HEPLISAV-B® [Hepatitis B Vaccine
(Recombinant), Adjuvanted], an adult hepatitis B vaccine approved
by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dynavax developed
CpG 1018 to provide an increased vaccine immune response, which has
been demonstrated in HEPLISAV-B. CpG 1018 provides a well-
developed technology and a significant safety database, potentially
accelerating the development and large-scale manufacturing of a
COVID-19 vaccine.
About DynavaxDynavax is a
commercial stage biopharmaceutical company developing and
commercializing novel vaccines. The Company launched its first
commercial product, HEPLISAV-B® [Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant),
Adjuvanted], in February 2018, following U.S. FDA approval for
prevention of infection caused by all known subtypes of hepatitis B
virus in adults age 18 years and older. Dynavax is also further
developing CpG 1018 as an advanced vaccine adjuvant through
research collaborations and partnerships. Current collaborations
are focused on adjuvanted vaccines for COVID-19 and pertussis. For
more information, visit www.dynavax.com and follow the company on
LinkedIn.
About the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2
(and COVID-19 Disease)SARS-CoV-2 is a new coronavirus
identified in late 2019 which belongs to a family of enveloped RNA
viruses that include MERS and SARS, both of which caused serious
human infections of the respiratory system. The virus causes a
disease named COVID-19. Since this outbreak was first reported in
late 2019, the virus has infected over 19.9 million people and has
caused over 732,000 reported deaths (as of August 11, 2020). It has
been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Currently there is no vaccine available for COVID-19.
Dynavax Forward-Looking
StatementsThis press release contains "forward-looking"
statements, including statements regarding potential benefits of
using CpG 1018 as an adjuvant in a COVID-19 vaccine and the ability
to increase CpG 1018 manufacturing capacity. Actual results may
differ materially from those set forth in this press release due to
the risks and uncertainties inherent in vaccine research and
development, and whether the CpG 1018 manufacturing scale up
activities will result in the ability to manufacture the number of
CpG 1018 adjuvant doses projected, as well as other risks detailed
in the "Risk Factors" section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, as well as discussions of
potential risks, uncertainties and other important factors in our
other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We
undertake no obligation to revise or update information herein to
reflect events or circumstances in the future, even if new
information becomes available. Information on Dynavax's website at
www.dynavax.com is not incorporated by reference in our current
periodic reports with the SEC.
Nicole Arndt, Senior Manager, Investor
Relationsnarndt@dynavax.com510-665-7264
Derek Cole, President Investor Relations Advisory Solutions
derek.cole@IRadvisory.com
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