Rokote Laboratories Finland Ltd., a vaccine development company focusing on a second-generation COVID-19 vaccine, and Exothera S.A. will collaborate to bring the intranasal coronavirus vaccine FINCoVac 2.0 to clinical Phase I/II trials. Exothera will finetune the industrialization of the FINCOVAC 2.0 process and manufacture clinical material for Phase I/II trials.
FINCoVac 2.0 is designed to address the most critical current coronavirus variants and it is based on adenoviral vector gene transfer technology. The FINCoVac vaccine is designed to program the nasopharyngeal cells to produce an immune response-inducing modified SARS-CoV-2-viral spike protein. FINCoVac 2.0 represents an easy-to-administer booster for those who are already fully vaccinated with other coronavirus vaccines.
Exothera is a leading CDMO specializing in the industrialization of vaccine and gene therapy processes with deep knowledge of modern scalable bioreactors, downstream process technologies and GMP manufacturing. Exothera offers a full-service model where it manages all the elements of the product development value chain, from process development to manufacturing. This single partner approach will allow Rokote Laboratories to enter clinical trials more quickly.
Hanna Lesch, Chief Technology Officer at Exothera: “Exothera’s leading viral manufacturing expertise fits perfectly with Rokote Laboratories’ needs. As a Finn, I am proud to be part of the Finnish FINCoVac vaccine program. We are excited to continue supporting the ongoing fight against the coronavirus pandemic.”
Erkko Ylösmäki, Director, Research and Development at Rokote Laboratories Finland: ”Exothera’s manufacturing capabilities, the full-service model, and the outstanding commitment to rapid manufacturing of our vaccine for the Phase I/II trials is everything we were looking for from a CDMO. We are excited to start this collaboration to address the global need for an easy-to-administer COVID-19 vaccine that can not only prevent the disease but can also prevent those vaccinated from further transmitting the SARS-CoV-2 virus.”
About Rokote Laboratories Finland Ltd.
Rokote Laboratories Finland Ltd. is a Finnish vaccine development company established in 2020 and located in Helsinki and Kuopio. The Company’s operations were founded on research cooperation based on the competence of the University of Helsinki and the University of Eastern Finland. In 2021, Rokote Laboratories Finland Ltd. received EUR 9 million in funding (Ferring Ventures SA, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Fund, Finnish Cultural Fund, and Business Finland) for the development, manufacture, and implementation of FINCoVac coronavirus vaccine, as well as for the first and second phases of clinical trials.
About Exothera SA
Exothera is a viral vector CDMO using standard and innovative bioproduction platforms to rapidly deliver affordable viral vector-based vaccines and cell and gene therapies. As a Univercells company, Exothera capitalizes on novel manufacturing technologies and best-in-class bioprocessing expertise to provide custom-made process optimization and GMP clinical and commercial production of viral vectors. Based on its extensive technology expertise, Exothera selects technologies to optimally answer customer needs for cost-effective and agile viral vector manufacturing and provides QC services and analytical development.
