VAXART ANNOUNCES IT ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH EMERGENT BIOSOLUTIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURING OF ORAL CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) VACCINE CANDIDATE

Oral Vaccines based on Proprietary VAAST Platform Offer Potential Key Advantages in Global Quest to Develop Coronavirus Vaccine

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vaxart, Inc. (Nasdaq: VXRT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing oral recombinant vaccines administered by tablet rather than by injection, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS), whereby Emergent will deploy its molecule-to-market contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) services to help develop and manufacture Vaxart’s experimental oral vaccine candidate for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).  Vaxart’s oral recombinant vaccine candidate is based on its proprietary VAAST platform.

“I’m pleased that we are joining forces with an experienced manufacturer such as Emergent to help advance our oral COVID-19 vaccine to the clinic,” said Wouter Latour, MD, chief executive officer of Vaxart.  “We believe an oral vaccine administered using a room temperature-stable tablet may offer enormous logistical advantages in the roll-out of a large vaccination campaign, and Emergent is a great partner to help in this endeavor.” 

Under the terms of the agreement, development services will begin immediately, and upon Vaxart’s election, Emergent is expected to produce bulk cGMP vaccine allowing Vaxart to initiate a Phase 1 clinical study early in the second half of 2020.  Emergent will provide development services out of its Gaithersburg, MD location and manufacture drug substance at its Bayview facility in Baltimore, MD, designated a Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing (CIADM) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

“Emergent is pleased to deploy our nimble CDMO expertise to support fellow innovators, like Vaxart, and advance an experimental COVID-19 vaccine candidate,” said Syed T. Husain, senior vice president and CDMO business unit head at Emergent BioSolutions. “We look forward to applying our broad molecule-to-market services, including our ability to work with a multitude of delivery systems, execute under expedited timelines, and meet Vaxart’s potential need for future scalability and large-scale capacity for commercial quantities.”