iBio (IBIO+1.6%) provided an update on its lead COVID-19 vaccine program IBIO-202.
The company said that according to feedback received from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it is moving forward with investigational new drug (IND)-enabling challenge studies for its second-generation vaccine candidate targeting the nucleocapsid (“N”) protein and plans to file an IND application before the end of 2022.
“Several studies have demonstrated that the N protein appears to be more effective than the S protein towards stimulating a durable immune response. Obviously, the emergence of variants like Omicron underscores how mutations to the S protein can enable the virus to spread and sicken millions of people, despite steadily increasing immunization rates," said iBio Chairman and CEO Tom Isett.