Media

2023-05-17
On May 17, 2023, Recombinant bivalent COVID-19 protein vaccine (Sf9 cells) and recombinant trivalent COVID-19 trimeric protein vaccine (Sf9 cells) developed by WestVac Biopharma/ West China Medical Center, Sichuan University against the most recent circulating XBB variants, received the "Drug Clinical Trial Approval" from the National Medical Products Administration of China.
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2023-05-05
Recently, the Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine (Sf9 cell) - Coviccine® developed by WestVac Biopharma Co., Ltd. and West China Hospital of Sichuan University was launched in Guizhou. As one of the recommended vaccines in the national Immunization Schedule for Second COVID-19 Booster Dose, Coviccine® has excellent broad-spectrum immune protection against multiple mutant strains.
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2023-04-27
At the 2023 National Vaccines and Health Conference held recently, Xiaoping DONG, Chief Expert of Virology of China CDC, gave an in-depth analysis of the progress of COVID-19 prevention and control and the research and application of COVID-19 vaccine, which attracted thousands of online and offline professionals from the industry. All participants benefited a lot from the presentation.
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About Us

WestVac BioPharma Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "WestVac BioPharma") is an innovative biopharmaceutical enterprise integrating vaccine R&D, production and sales. With the continuous investment and support of many powerful shareholders -- CICC Capital, Shanghai Pharma, Haier Biomedical and so on, WestVac BioPharma has been successfully selected into the list of unicorn companies for two consecutive years from 2021 to 2022.

In terms of production, quality, operations management, etc., WestVac Biopharma has introduced top talents from well-known domestic and international vaccine companies, established a complete production and quality management system, has more than 300 employees to ensure mass production of vaccines can proceed smoothly.

WestVac Biopharma has a mature insect cell expression platform, mRNA vaccine platform, novel adjuvant platform, bacterial vaccine platform, tumor vaccine and immunotherapy platform, with more than 20 pipelines including COVID-19 vaccine, multivalent influenza vaccine, herpes virus vaccine, tumor immunity preparations.

Phase III clinical trials of the first generation Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine (Sf9 cells)-Coviccine, have been rolled out globally in multiple countries, with nearly 40,000 subjects enrolled and vaccinated. The clinical trials in Japan for marketing purpose have been concluded, which is the first Chinese COVID-19 vaccine that entered clinical trials in a developed country. Study results show that the vaccine has good safety and immunogenicity with protection against Omicron subvariants of COVID-19 as high as 70.95%. It is one of the most effective vaccines against symptomatic Omicron subvariants globally so far, fully demonstrating the advantages and characteristics of the recombinant protein vaccine technology route.

Meanwhile, WestVac BioPharma has achieved significant progress in the Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine (Sf9 cells) with a high titer of neutralizing antibody against COVID-19 variant strains including Omicron and Delta. Targeting the S-RBD protein of the COVID-19 variant strain, the subunit vaccine antigen is precisely designed based on the structure, which can self-assemble into stable protein particles. Mass production of the vaccine adopts internationally advanced insect cell production technology. The pre-clinical studies have been concluded, indicating that the vaccine is of good safety and tolerance and able to induce very high titers of neutralizing antibodies against variant strains such as Omicron and Delta in multiple species.

WestVac Biopharma has built a production base with an annual production capacity of 600 million doses in Chengdu Tianfu International Bio-town, has completed the construction and verification of GMP production workshop, and obtained the "Drug Manufacturing License". In addition, Guangzhou production base with an annual capacity of 500 million doses is also under construction. WestVac Biopharma has established a sound communication mechanism with many international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH, The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

In the future, WestVac Biopharma will grow into a world leading vaccine and immunotherapy platform in line with the corporate philosophy of "We Initiate Science & Technology Value, Always for Caring", seek innovation in the prevention and overcome of human diseases, bring innovative vaccines and immunotherapies from China to the world for the benefit of mankind.

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Product R&D

WestVac BioPharma Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "WestVac BioPharma") has a mature insect cell expression platform, novel adjuvant platform, bacterial vaccine platform, tumor vaccine platform and immunotherapy platform, with more than 20 pipelines including COVID-19 vaccine, multivalent influenza vaccine, herpes virus vaccine, tumor immunity preparations.

After the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, with the strong support of governments at all levels, Sichuan University West China Medical Center and WestVac BioPharma took the initiative in the scientific and technological endeavor against COVID-19, and made breakthroughs through more than one year's efforts. Affiliated to Sichuan University, West China Medical Center is the largest national medical center in western China. Its State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy is the only laboratory of its kind with the mandate of "Treating Critical Human Disease with Biotechnology". There are over 150 experts with multi-disciplinary background, including 13 Chang Jiang Scholars/Young Chang Jiang Scholars and 18 winners of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars.

Under the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of The State Council, Sichuan University in partnership with WestVac BioPharma undertook the research and development of Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine (Sf9 cells), a national key scientific research project led by Professor WEI Yuquan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director of the State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chairman of WestVac BioPharma and his team of scientists. The technology adopted is listed as one of the five state-funded COVID-19 vaccine development technology routes.

On July 29, 2020, WestVac Biopharma R&D team published the first paper on COVID-19 vaccine research in Nature. An innovative recombinant protein technology route was adopted to develop China's first recombinant COVID-19 vaccine expressed in insect cells—Coviccine. It is the second generation recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine, which introduces SARS-CoV-2 genes into insect cells to generate the S protein of SARS-CoV-2, and induce human body to produce antibodies to block viral infection. Mass production of the vaccine has been achieved. The Phase I and II clinical trials of Coviccine have been completed in June 2021. Phase III clinical trials have been rolled out globally in multiple countries, with nearly 40,000 subjects enrolled and vaccinated. The clinical trials in Japan for marketing purpose have been concluded, which is the first Chinese COVID-19 vaccine that entered clinical trials in a developed country. Study results show that the vaccine has good safety and immunogenicity, with protection against Omicron subvariants of COVID-19 as high as 70.95%. It is one of the most effective vaccines against symptomatic Omicron subvariants globally so far, fully demonstrating the advantages and characteristics of the recombinant protein vaccine technology route.
 
WestVac Biopharma is also accelerating the development of the recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Sf9 cells) in response to the continuous emergence of variant strains such as Delta and Omicron. The subunit vaccine antigen is precisely designed based on the structure, which can self-assemble into stable protein particles. Mass production of the vaccine uses internationally advanced insect cell production technology and is combined with oil-in-water emulsion adjuvant (MF59-like adjuvant) that can induce a stronger immune response. The vaccine can induce the production of high titers of neutralizing antibodies upon immunizing animals such as mice or monkeys. The neutralizing antibodies against Omicron variant strain can reach a level of ten thousand (meaning that the blood is diluted 10,000 times and still has the ability to block the virus from infecting cells). It was previously discovered that the vaccine also induces a level of ten thousand neutralizing antibodies that completely inhibit Gamma, Beta and Delta variant strains of Euvirus, indicating that the vaccine is a universal COVID-19 vaccine against multiple variant strains. It is also one of the first COVID-19 vaccine announced internationally that has high titers of neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant strain. The dossier for the vaccine has been submitted to the National Medical Products Administration in August, 2021 in rolling submission, and the clinical trials are expected to start officially in the middle of 2022.

In order to improve the safety and accessibility of the vaccine, WestVac Biopharma has also developed a nasal spray vaccine against COVID-19 variants, improving efficacy by inducing nasal mucosal immunity. On the basis of extensive research, the nasal spray dosage form was selected to induce strong immune response. Two immunizations will enable rabbits to produce more than one hundred thousand binding antibodies together with substantial quantity of neutralizing antibodies. Additionally, the company is also in the process of developing novel oral preparation against COVID-19 and mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, both of which have shown good in vivo safety and activity.

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Commercialization

WestVac BioPharma Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "WestVac BioPharma") is an innovative biopharmaceutical enterprise integrating vaccine R&D, production and sales. The company is located in Chengdu Tianfu International Bio-town. WestVac Biopharma has a mature insect cell expressed recombinant protein platform, novel adjuvant platform, bacterial vaccine platform, tumor vaccine platform and immunotherapy platform. The company is committed to the development and production of a variety of innovative vaccines and immunotherapy products.

WestVac Biopharma has built a production base with an annual production capacity of 600 million doses in Chengdu Tianfu International Bio-town. The layout of production line is optimized, the production process is scientific and safe, and the production equipment is basically made in China. The company has completed the construction and verification of GMP production workshop, and obtained the "Drug Manufacturing License". Three separate product pipelines can be used to produce a variety of recombinant protein vaccines expressed by insect cells, including COVID-19 vaccine, influenza vaccine, herpes vaccine, etc. In addition, Guangzhou production base with an annual capacity of 500 million doses is also under construction.

In terms of production, quality, operations management, etc., WestVac Biopharma has introduced advanced talents from well-known domestic and international vaccine companies, established a complete production and quality management system, has more than 300 employees to ensure that large scale production of vaccines can proceed smoothly.

WestVac Biopharma has also established a good communication with many international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Gates Foundation, PATH, The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and so on. The company has submitted an application for emergency use of COVID-19 vaccine (EUL) to the World Health Organization (WHO), hoping to contribute to global COVID-19 prevention and control.

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