CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and Codiak BioSciences announced the latest funding award under CEPI’s US $200m program to advance the development of vaccines that provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 (including its variants) and other Betacoronaviruses. CEPI will provide seed funding of up to US $2.5 million to Codiak BioSciences—a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, MA, USA—to continue the advancement of vaccine candidates from its pan Betacoronavirus program through preclinical studies.
Codiak’s proprietary exoVACC™ platform leverages engineered exosomes—naturally occurring, extracellular nanoparticle vesicles—to precisely control antigen display on the surface or in the lumen, in order to deliver antigens, adjuvants and immunomodulators selectively to antigen-presenting cells to maximize immune response. Codiak’s pan Betacoronavirus vaccine construct carries the receptor-binding domain (RBD) protein of both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 at high density on the surface of the exosome, combined with structurally constrained, highly conserved T-cell antigens expressed in the lumen, and stable loading of a STING agonist. This design closely resembles the natural viral structures, and these engineered exosomes stimulate a broad immune response comprising both antibody and T-cell-mediated immunity.
Codiak has previously presented preclinical data showing its vaccine candidate stimulates a comprehensive and durable immune response against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants and the ability to produce antigen-specific T-cell responses against known coronavirus variants of concern. CEPI’s funding will enable Codiak to further validate its program in preclinical studies, assessing the immune response against known Betacoronaviruses that already pose a significant epidemic or pandemic risk, such as SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV, and the potential of the immune response to protect against infection and disease caused by these viruses.
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