Edmonton-made vaccine prepares for next phase of clinical trials

EDMONTON -

A COVID-19 vaccine developed in Edmonton is moving to the next stage of clinical trials.

The CEO of Entos Pharmaceuticals says the results of the phase one trials were exactly what they were hoping to see. Now the company is preparing for phase two.

"It was completely safe, completely well tolerated and produced the kind of response we wanted," said CEO John Lewis.

Since there are already approved COVID-19 vaccines for Canadians, Lewis says the company decided it wasn't feasible to conduct a primary immunization trial in Canada. The next stage of trials will take place in Honduras, South Africa and possibly India.

"We're running the clinical in areas where we know we can run a high quality clinical trial where approved vaccines are just not available," said Lewis.

"A clinical trial is a great option for an individual, and also because this is the kind of vaccine that would be very suitable for distribution in low and middle income countries."

The vaccine is made using DNA instead of RNA making it easier to transport and store at lower temperatures.

Lewis says the DNA vaccine is stable in a regular fridge for over a year, and stable at room temperature for over a month.

"We see this as a key tool on our quest to get the world vaccinated," said Lewis.