April 27, 2020 – Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Osaka, Japan; President and CEO: Isao Teshirogi, Ph.D.; hereafter “Shionogi”) today announced that Shionogi has officially made the decision to develop a prophylactic vaccine for COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection.
SARS-CoV-2 is a global threat, and prompt responses are needed to prevent the spread of infection and to develop therapeutics and vaccines. As a pharmaceutical company with a major focus on infectious diseases, Shionogi is also working with public institutions, academia, and partner companies, to address COVID-19 and is pursuing the discovery of novel therapeutic drugs, vaccine development, and preparations for offering a COVID-19 antibody test kit.
Regarding commitment to vaccine development, UMN Pharma Inc., a subsidiary of Shionogi, is pursuing the discovery and development of a recombinant protein vaccine for COVID-19, using their unique technology, “BEVS*”, in a project supported by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) [Representative of Research and Development: Dr. Hideki Hasegawa, Director of Influenza Virus Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases], which began in March, 2020. We have decided to position the development of this vaccine as one of our top-priority projects, alongside the discovery of COVID-19 therapeutic drugs, and to accelerate our efforts to rapidly progress into nonclinical and clinical trials and scale-up studies to enable us to offer this vaccine to 10 million people. At the present time, we are coordinating our plans with relevant parties, such as the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), in order to start clinical trials within the year. * Baculovirus Expression Vector System
Shionogi is committed to “protecting people from the threat of infectious diseases” as our key focus. We are not limiting ourselves to the research and development of therapeutic medications, but are also focused on the total care of infectious disease, through awareness building, prevention and diagnosis. Shionogi will work closely with the NIID, a country-representative specialist institution for infectious disease control, to accelerate the development of new domestic vaccines for COVID-19 and will strive to contribute to the recovery of the safety and security of society by advancing our efforts to support early containment of the pandemic. The impact of this matter on the consolidated earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021 is not yet determined at this time, but we will promptly announce any future impact of the progression of this efforton our financial results when recognized.
Via : Shionogi
