Oramed Subsidiary Oravax Announces First Participant Enrolled in Phase 1 Oral COVID-19 Vaccine Trial in South Africa
Oravax’s oral vaccine targets three surface proteins, making it potentially more effective against current and future variants
Oravax’s oral vaccine should offer critical advantages, including logistics, distribution and delivery in less vaccinated regions, including Africa
Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: ORMP) (TASE: ORMP) (www.oramed.com), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of oral drug delivery platforms, announced today that its subsidiary, Oravax Medical Inc. (www.ora-vax.com), has screened and enrolled the first participant in a Phase 1 clinical trial of its oral virus-like particle (VLP) COVID-19 vaccine in Johannesburg, South Africa. The open-label trial anticipates enrolling 24 participants who have not received either a COVID-19 vaccine or contracted the virus. Participants will be administered one dose of the oral vaccine at the beginning of the trial and a second dose three weeks later. The trial’s endpoints will include safety and tolerability as well as efficacy by measuring the presence of an immunogenic response.
Oravax’s oral VLP vaccine targets three SARS CoV-2 virus surface proteins, including proteins less susceptible to mutation, thus making the vaccine potentially more effective against current and future variants of the COVID-19 virus. Oravax’s VLP vaccine technology is highly scalable for manufacturing and is easily transferable for logistical wide scale distribution as there is no need for subfreezing storage.
“We expect to rapidly complete this study and hope to advance into pivotal trials for emergency use approval in countries where our oral VLP vaccine would have the greatest impact. South Africa is a great location for the Phase 1 study, as it is currently experiencing a surge in COVID cases and has struggled to obtain sufficient vaccines. It is our firm belief that an oral vaccine which eliminates syringes and eases distribution and administration, can significantly help increase vaccination rates for South Africa and similar countries,” said Oramed Chief Executive Officer, Nadav Kidron.
About Oravax
Oravax Medical Inc. was established in 2021 by Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc., the largest shareholder in Oravax, along with Premas Biotech, MyMD Pharmaceuticals, and certain other shareholders with a mission to bring an oral COVID-19 vaccine to the market. Oravax combines cutting-edge vaccine technology acquired from Premas Biotech and the proprietary POD™ oral delivery technology of Oramed Pharmaceuticals.