Israeli company says oral COVID-19 vaccine is on its way

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An Israeli-American pharmaceutical company is preparing to launch a Phase I clinical trial for what could become the world’s first oral COVID-19 vaccine.

Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company based on technology developed by Hadassah-University Medical Center, announced this weekend a joint venture with Premas Biotech to develop a new oral vaccine. Together, they formed Oravax Medical Inc. The vaccine is based on Oramed’s’ POD ‘oral delivery technology and Premas’ vaccine technology.

Oramed’s technology can be used to deliver a number of protein therapies orally, which would otherwise be given by injection. Oramed is in the midst of a Phase III clinical trial by the US Food and Drug Administration of an oral insulin capsule for type I and type II diabetics.

Premas has been working on the development of a vaccine against the new coronavirus since March.

Businesses went online earlier this year, according to Oramed CEO Nadav Kidron, and quickly realized they could revolutionize the market.

“An oral COVID-19 vaccine would remove several barriers to rapid and large-scale distribution, potentially allowing people to take the vaccine themselves at home,” Kidron said. “While ease of administration is essential today for speeding up inoculation rates, an oral vaccine could become even more valuable in the event that a COVID-19 vaccine could be recommended each year as the standard influenza vaccine.”

The company performed a pilot study in animals and found that the vaccine promoted the development of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies. IgA is necessary for long term immunity.

The new Oravax vaccine candidate targets three structural proteins of the novel coronavirus, Kidron explained, as opposed to the single-tip protein targeted via the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. As such, “this vaccine is expected to be much more resistant to the COVID-19 variants,” Kidron said.

In addition, it is a yeast-based vaccine, which makes the production time and cost much cheaper than its already approved competitors.

The benefits of an oral vaccine go beyond safety and efficacy, Kidron continued. He said oral medications tend to have fewer side effects; About 10% of people vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna report having side effects.

In addition, the vaccine can be shipped at refrigerator temperature and even stored at room temperature, “making it easier to transport logistics to anywhere in the world,” Kidron said.

Finally, an oral vaccine would not require professional administration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQXaylnGXLM Oravax plans to begin a clinical study in the second quarter of 2021. Kidron said it was applying for trials in several countries, including the United States, Israel, Europe and Mexico. He also hopes to target Africa, where such an oral vaccine could prove essential.

Kidron said he expects data from Phase I human trials to be available within three months.

In February 2020, shortly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, another Israeli team began development of what they hoped would be an oral vaccine against the coronavirus. Scientists at the Galilee Research Institute’s biotechnology group, who had developed a vaccine against the avian coronavirus, which had been proven to work in preclinical trials and which they believed would result in a human vaccine, said they were ready to develop their vaccine in a few months.

The Jerusalem Post has followed the institute’s researchers and spokespersons several times over the past few months for a status update, but none have been provided.



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