ImmunityBio selected for 'Operation Warp Speed' to develop COVID-19 vaccine

Shares of USA-based NantKwest (Nasdaq: NK) gained as much as 20% to $6.53 yesterday after it revealing that its partner, privately-held immunotherapy company ImmunityBio, has been selected to participate in Operation Warp Speed, a new US program aiming to provide substantial quantities of safe, effective vaccine for Americans by January 2021.

Efforts will focus on the development, testing, and large-scale manufacturing of ImmunityBio’s COVID-19 human adenovirus vaccine (hAd5) candidate. This is the first vaccine designed to deliver both Spike (S) and Nucleocapsid (N) DNA, offering the potential for patients to develop long-lasting immunity to the virus, noted the companies, which earlier this month entered into a binding term sheet to pursue collaborative joint development, manufacturing, and marketing of certain COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines. reveal

This novel, E1, E2b, E3 deleted, human adenovirus vector has demonstrated safety in over 125 patients in 13 Phase I and II trials to date. Clinical studies performed by the National Cancer Institute have demonstrated that this novel Ad5 may induce antigen-specific T-cell immunity in patients, even in the presence of pre-existing adenoviral immunity.