On Oct. 21, 2020, ImmunityBio and NantKwest announced that the first patient had been dosed in the Phase 1 clinical trial of hAd5-COVID-19, a novel COVID-19 vaccine candidate that targets the inner nucleocapsid (N) and the outer spike (S) protein, engineered to activate both T cells and antibodies against the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). This is a novel COVID vaccine that used a second-generation adenovirus that delivered multiple proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 with the potential for long-term immunity through memory T cells.

NantKwest and ImmunityBio’s hAd5-COVID-19 vaccine candidate is a uniquely engineered, second-generation human adenovirus serotype 5 vaccine that has been designed to deliver both the spike protein and nucleocapsid protein by dual constructs of SARS-CoV-2 to potentially generate B and Tcell memory to the COVID-19 antigens and long-term immunity to the virus. Most of the COVID-19 vaccines in late-stage clinical trials deliver only the monovalent spike protein on the surface of the virus to generate blocking antibodies. Modified to enhance the safety of the vector and immunogenicity of the COVID insert, ImmunityBio’s novel human adenovirus vector has demonstrated preliminary safety in over 125 patients in 13 Phase I and 2 trials to date. Clinical studies performed by the National Cancer Institute have demonstrated that this novel Ad5 vector induces antigen-specific T-cell immunity in patients, even in the presence of pre-existing adenoviral immunity.

NantKwest and ImmunityBio are currently enrolling 35 healthy adults aged 18 to 55 years old in the Phase 1 study for the hAd5-COVID-19 vaccine candidate (NCT04591717). hAd5-COVID-19 will be administered as both a prime and boost using the same vector platform to enable sustained protection against SAR-CoV-2. The study’s main objective is to examine the safety and reactogenicity of two doses of the vaccine. The companies are also pursuing development for oral, inhalational, and intranasal administration of hAd5