G+FLAS Life Sciences readying animal testing of coronavirus vaccine candidate

South Korean biotechnology company G+FLAS Life Sciences has begun a process to test its new coronavirus vaccine candidate in animal models.

The company said on Thursday it constructed an immunogenic recombinant vaccine candidate expressed in transgenic plants based on its own plant-based protein production platform.

G+FLAS has been developing CRISPR/Cas foundation technologies as well as innovative applications for better human health, including gene therapy drugs.

Based on the genome information of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) revealed in January, the company successfully synthesized a gene that encodes the “spike” protein of the new coronavirus, a potential target for vaccine development, after optimizing the gene for expression in transgenic plants.

Then the company introduced the synthesized gene into a plant expression vector to create a recombinant DNA molecule, leading to production of spike proteins from plants.

The proteins that are now in the process of isolation and purification will be tested in preclinical models as early as next week to evaluate whether they can induce an immune response that could protect from infection.

The company’s plant-based platform has the advantage of being able to produce vaccine candidates faster than egg or animal cell culture-based technology widely used for vaccine development. The company’s hallmark is to design plant genes with CRISPR/Cas genetic scissors to eliminate the toxicity that can occur when the proteins produced in plants are administered to the human body.

Based on the preclinical findings, the company said it will initially deliver 20,000 vaccine doses per production cycle through its plant hotel system in Osong, central South Korea.

G+FLAS is on track to join Korea’s secondary tech- and bio-heavy Kosdaq market this year as it has met special conditions for money-losing but promising ventures to go public.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]