Covax19/Spikogen®; the first approved recombinant spike protein vaccine

The team at Vaxine Pty Ltd is focussed on development of vaccines and drugs against pathogens that pose major public health threats including Covid-19, pandemic influenza, Ebola, HIV, malaria, and TB. The team employs advanced technologies including artificial intelligence to accelerate vaccine development. The team was successful in obtaining regulatory approved for its Covid-19 protein-based vaccine in early October 2021, making it the first recombinant full spike protein in the world to reach this critical milestone. The team had to overcome numerous obstacles, including major supply chain disruptions and local lockdowns, on top of the usual challenges of optimising protein expression, purification and characterisation. Nevertheless, they managed to complete the entire process from initial vaccine design to regulatory approval in just 18 months, making the record for the fastest development through to approval of a recombinant protein vaccine. Whilst not the first Covid-19 vaccines to be approved, Covax19/Spikogen has many promising features including high yield and low cost, temperature stability, strong T and B cell memory, broad cross-protection and excellent tolerability and safety, that may ultimately give it the edge in the highly competitive Covid-19 vaccine arena.

Prof. Nikolai Petrovsky is the Research Director of Vaxine Pty Ltd, a Professor of Medicine at Flinders University and an active clinician. He has held multiple large research grants from the US National Institutes of Health and has authored over 200 peer-reviewed research papers. He has won several prestigious awards including an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2010. His recent focus has development of a protein-based vaccine against COVID-19 called Covax-19/Spikogen, which is now approved as both a primary course and 3rd dose booster and forms part of the Iranian national immunization program.