Exothera will be responsible for the development of a manufacturing process for CyanVac's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CVXGA1, using the scale-X fixed-bed bioreactor technology platform. The platform, in combination with Exothera's expertise in process development, will enable CyanVac to produce good manufacturing practice (GMP) clinical trial material in 2021 for planned phase III clinical trials.

Clinical trial material will be manufactured at Exothera's Vega GMP plant on the Univercells' Jumet campus in Belgium.

CVXGA1 is a COVID-19 vaccine candidate based on the PIV5 vector that encodes the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. CyanVac is developing the candidate as a single dose intranasal vaccine to prevent infection and serious complications associated with COVID-19. Preclinical studies suggest that the vaccine is immunogenic and prevents infection. The company is planning a phase I clinical trial in the first half of 2021.