On Jun. 10, 2020, Catalent announced that it had signed an agreement with Spicona to develop a virus-like protein (VLP)-based vaccine against COVID-19. Under the terms of the agreement, Catalent will use its proprietary GPEx cell line development technology to develop a cell line expressing the recombinant VLP at its Madison, Wisconsin facility.

Spicona is focused on research and development in the field of immunology and vaccinology. Its pipeline is being built around novel compounds for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, with an immediate focus on the development of a novel, safe and protective COVID-19 vaccine. Spicona is led by a team of experienced vaccine experts headed by Dr. Kaspar Bänziger, Dr. Reinhard Glück, and Dr. Gaurav Gupta, together with a prestigious international advisory board, whose members have been involved in the development of several vaccines, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) vaccine in 2003. Today, millions of children and adults are safely immunized with vaccines developed and brought to market by the experts who make up the Spicona team.

Catalent’s GPEx technology creates stable, high-yielding mammalian cell lines with high speed and efficiency. The advantages of applying GPEx technology span from early feasibility studies to clinical manufacturing, through to commercial-scale production. GPEx technology is used with therapeutic candidates in more than 120 ongoing clinical trials.