PepVax announces it has begun development of SMARTmid™-based coronavirus cell therapy to address the global pandemic threat

  United States, Maryland, Bethesda - 03/27/2020 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

PVX-010 development program, based on the SMARTmid™ platform, begins for the treatment of COVID-19 outbreak. 

March 27th, 2020 (Bethesda, MD) – PepVax, Inc., an early-stage biotechnology company, announced today it has started development of PVX-010 using its novel SMARTmid™ platform for drug delivery of nucleic acid and amino acid-based drugs and cell therapies in pre-clinical development. This potential immunotherapy is intended to be used as both treatment and prevention of COVID-19 infection, currently a global pandemic. PVX-010 can be a first-in-class DNA immunotherapy to fight COVID-19. 

The Potent Solution to Develop a Strong Cell Therapy against COVID-19

Our SMARTmid™ vector design is our fully synthetic method for producing plasmid vector particles for mammalian cell transfection and is a powerful template in which to build a drug delivery and immuno-adjuvant platform. Our proof-of-concept experiments are designed to evaluate SMARTmid™ platform’s ability to transfect human T-lymphocytic cells inside patients to become anti-COVID-19 CAR-Ts that will be accompanied by the secretion of antiviral and pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Leveraging our Expertise in Immunotherapy and Cell Therapy

“It is our duty to leverage what we have learned from our experience in cell and immuno-therapy in order to address this COVID-19 global pandemic,” said Mahesh Narayanan, CEO of PepVax. “We are working closely with regulatory agencies and research institutes like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as existing collaborators to move swiftly from pre-clinical trials into human clinical studies.”

About PVX-010

There is presently no treatment for COVID-19. The development of PVX-010 will be a major therapeutic accomplishment. This project can lead to a rapid development of a treatment for the novel coronavirus through the creation of multiple CAR-Ts directed against COVID-19, all being engineered directly inside the patient (Intusic™) for safer and more effective treatments than current ex vivo engineering of CAR-Ts using viral vectors. 

About PepVax, Inc.

PepVax, Inc. was founded in 2013 to develop a DNA-based drug delivery and development platform. The Company, located in Bethesda, has developed a DNA plasmid delivery system that takes a simplified method to delivery and a “Trojan Horse” approach to drug production inside patients. The nucleic and amino acid drug market is expected to grow to $248 billion by 2020 to include siRNA delivery, vaccines, and antisense technologies as well as protein therapeutics. Learn more at www.pepvax.co 

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS DISCLAIMER: 

Statements in this press release, which are not historical, are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, risks associated with the Company's financial condition and prospects, risk associated with drug development and production, legal risks associated with product liability and risks of governmental legislation and regulation, risks associated with market acceptance and technological changes, risks associated with dependence on suppliers, risks relating to international operations, risks associated with competition and other risks. These risks may cause results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.