On Jul. 22, 2020, Altimmune announced an agreement with Vigene Biosciences to manufacture AdCOVIDTM, Altimmune’s single-dose intranasal vaccine candidate for COVID-19. Vigene, a Rockville, Maryland-based Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), specializes in viral vectors and will deploy its capabilities to manufacture AdCOVID. Following positive pre-clinical data, Altimmune planned to start a Phase 1 clinical trial of AdCOVID in Q4 2020.

Altimmune is also initiating scale up of manufacturing of its AdCOVID vaccine for advanced clinical trials and commercial production. The Company is actively engaged in discussions with additional strategic manufacturing partners with the goal of producing at least 100 million doses of AdCOVID in 2021.

AdCOVID is an intranasal vaccine candidate designed to block viral infection and to provide protection against viral spread through stimulation of both mucosal and systemic neutralizing antibodies (IgA and IgG) as well as cell-mediated immunity. By stimulating mucosal immunity in the nasal cavity, a key point of entry and replication for SARS-CoV-2, AdCOVID has the potential to defend against both infection in the recipient as well as spread of the virus to others. Intranasal administration can also be accomplished more simply than an injection and may eliminate the need for highly trained medical personnel. In addition, since it is expected to have extended stability at room temperature, AdCOVID may avoid the need for costly cold chain logistics.