Vaccitech Limited

Vaccitech is a T cell immunotherapy company developing products to treat and prevent infectious disease and cancer. The company is based in Oxford, U.K.

The company’s proprietary heterologous prime-boost platform comprises Chimpanzee Adenovirus Oxford (ChAdOx) and Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA), two non-replicating viral vectors which safely mimic viral infection in human cells and elicit high magnitude, durable, targeted CD8+ and CD4+ T cell responses to clear foreign pathogens and tumours.

The platform was licensed from the prestigious Jenner Institute for vaccine research at the University of Oxford, which dedicated over 20 years of research to identify and refine the optimal method for CD8+ T cell induction in humans.

The company says its platform has generated a largely immunotherapeutic pipeline of six clinical product candidates for infectious disease and cancer indications, four of which are in co-development with partners and external funding.

Vaccitech has a couple of internal drug development programs:

• VTP-300 is the company's therapeutic for Hepatitis B and entered Phase I clinical trials in Q1 2020. Vaccitech says VTP-300 utilises its heterologous prime-boost viral vector platform, ChAdOx-MVA, against three full length HBV antigens, genetically optimised from a consensus sequence of the genotype C virus by the laboratory of Professor Eleanor Barnes at University of Oxford. To alleviate immunosuppression in the liver microenvironment, VTP-300 will initially be administered in combination with a low dose checkpoint inhibitor.
• VTP-200 is the company's immunotherapy for human papillomavirus (HPV), which has been associated with several types of cancer, including cervical cancer. The company says its multigenic construct (VTP-200) is based on a wider array of strains and antigens than other HPV therapeutics in development. Clinical conditions that can be treated with the therapy alone include persistent high-risk HPV infection, CIN and anal intraepithelial neoplasia. The product will be studied in a Phase 1/2a trial to treat cervical lesions and CIN 1/2 in patients with persistent high-risk HPV infection planned for H1 2020, according to the company.

Vaccitech is working in concert with other organizations to develop vaccines and therapeutics around its ChAdOx platform:

• VTP-800 is being developed in partnership with the University of Oxford as a prostate cancer immunotherapy. Vaccitech completed Phase I studies and has entered Phase II trials.
• VTP-600 is being developed in a joint venture between Vaccitech and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research as a novel immunotherapy for lung cancer. A Phase 1/2a trial sponsored by Cancer Research UK is planned for Q4 2020. NSCLC patients will receive VTP-600 in combination with chemotherapy and anti-PD-1 standard of care.
• VTP-400 is being developed in partnership with CANSINO BIO as a vaccine meant to prevent Shingles. The vaccine will be made available for the Chinese market, if it's ultimately approved. Phase I trials are set to start in late 2020, according to Vaccitech.
• VTP-500 is a vaccine for the prevention of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) developed in partnership with the University of Oxford, Janssen Pharmaceutica, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). The vaccine candidate entered Phase I trials in March 2018, which are expected to conclude in July 2021. CEPI, Oxford University and Janssen have entered into a collaboration worth up to $19M to progress the vaccine through Phase 2 studies and establish a human vaccine stockpile. Vaccitech retains commercial rights for the product while licensing certain rights back to Oxford for non-profit development of the vaccine.

Vaccitech has developed a vaccine candidate for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19 disease, based of its previous work with MERS.

The company has entered into an agreement with Dutch contract manufacturing organization HALIX B.V. to manufacture the vaccine, which the company will enter into clinical trials conducted at the University of Oxford.