Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development and production of vaccines and biologics, and BlueWillow Biologics, Inc., a privately-held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing intranasal vaccines through its patented NanoVax adjuvant, announced a partnership to develop S-2P-NE-01, a nasal vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

While the majority of COVID-19 vaccines in development today are delivered via intramuscular injection, research has demonstrated that nasal delivery – often the initial site of the infection - can prevent the virus from taking hold in the body. Preclinical research demonstrated that BlueWillow’s nasal vaccine adjuvant combined with Medigen’s S-2P spike protein resulted in an extremely high neutralizing antibody response, as well as a superior immunoglobulin A (IgA) response in both serum and lung secretions (BAL) samples in mice compared to intramuscular injection of S-2P adjuvanted with alum. Mucosal immune response is critical in reducing viral nasal colonization and preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

“Our partnership with MVC is a tremendous milestone in our plan to develop a nasal vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 and we are buoyed by the preclinical results showing that intranasal vaccination with S-2P-NE-01 holds great promise for both mucosal and serologic immunity to SARS-CoV-2,” said Chad Costley, MD, CEO of BlueWillow Biologics. “Our plan is to rapidly advance S-2P-NE-01 into human clinical trials as we move forward to battle this global pandemic.”

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread around the world, there is an urgent need to develop a vaccine to fight this global crisis and we are proud to partner with BlueWillow to create an intranasal vaccination that has the potential to save human lives,” said Charles Chen, CEO of MVC. “While there has been a lot of movement in the development of vaccines, research continues to show the vast benefits of an intranasal vaccination and we look forward to the ongoing clinical development of our product candidate.”