Several Israeli companies and academies are working to develop domestic COVID-19 vaccines to protect against variants of the virus.

Phase II clinical trials of the novel BriLife coronavirus vaccine, developed by the Defence Ministry’s Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR), are currently taking place in Israel and Georgia.

Isreal21c reported that US-based NRx Pharmaceuticals will receive the license for exclusive worldwide development, manufacturing and marketing rights of BriLife. 

The initiative is being co-led by NRx director and chairman of Israeli private equity group CH Health, Chaim Hurvitz with NRx CEO Dr Jonathan Javitt, who has held leadership roles in seven healthcare IT and biopharma startups.

Meanwhile, startup MigVax, a spin-off from the Israeli Science and Technology Ministry’s Migal Galilee Research Institute, has developed the MigVax-101 oral vaccine.

It is raising funds to launch Phase I and Phase II human clinical trials after results from preclinical tests on rats demonstrated potential effectiveness as an antibody booster for previously vaccinated people.

Another oral vaccine is being developed by Oravax Medical, a subsidiary of Jerusalem-based Oramed Pharmaceuticals, in partnership with India-based Premas Biotech.

The solution capitalizes on Oramed’s proprietary protein oral delivery (POD) technology and Premas’ exclusive virus-like particle vaccine technology. 

As it targets three SARS CoV-2 virus surface proteins, it could potentially be effective against current and future mutations either as a standalone vaccine or a booster. The vaccine candidate is currently being tested in animals against variants, including the Delta variant.

WHY IT MATTERS

Israel has one of the world’s highest levels of vaccination, after securing deals with Pfizer and Moderna to share health data in exchange for vaccine doses. However, it is now reporting one of the world’s highest infection rates, largely due to the Delta variant.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

Other potential Israeli vaccines are in early stages of development, including an oral sub-unit coronavirus vaccine being developed in Rehovot at TransAlgae using an edible delivery vehicle based on engineered algae.

Israel recently began offering COVID booster shots to immunocompromised adults and over 50s. Prime minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday (16 Aug) that more than a million people have received a third dose of the jab.     

ON THE RECORD

Prof Itamar Shalit, MigVax’s infectious disease expert, said: “Oral boosters such as our MigVax-101 will be key enablers that will help health organisations the world over transition from ‘panic mode’ to routine, due to their ability to reduce the cost and expand the reach of ongoing vaccination programs.”

Nadav Kidron, CEO of Oramed, said: “Our vaccine is a particularly strong candidate against the evolving COVID-19 virus due to its unique targeting of three proteins rather than one.” 

NRx director Hurvitz, said: “As the first-generation COVID vaccines are increasingly challenged by rapid mutation of the coronavirus, we aim to develop a vaccine that can rapidly scale at low cost to serve the needs of both the developed and the developing world.”