On Mar. 30, 2020, Altimmune announced that it was launching a collaboration with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) on the development of its single-dose, intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, named AdCOVID.

In response to the urgent demand posed by the COVID-19 global pandemic, Altimmune had created a COVID-19 vaccine candidate and was preparing for immunogenicity studies and manufacture of Phase 1 clinical trial material. Initially, Altimmune will work with UAB investigators on preclinical animal studies and characterization of the vaccine immunogenicity with the goal of enabling a Phase 1 trial in Q3 of 2020.

Altimmune has significant experience in the development of intranasal vaccines for respiratory pathogens, including NasoVAX, a seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccine candidate, and NasoShield, a vaccine candidate for inhalation anthrax. NasoShield was being developed under a $133.7 million contract with Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).