CEPI, Hong Kong University Working on Intranasal COVID-19 Vaccine

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have expanded their collaboration pact to develop an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, derived from a live-attenuated influenza virus.

CEPI said it will invest $4.8 million to support a phase 1 trial evaluating the vaccine’s mucosal immune response, building off a $620,000 investment it previously paid to HKU in March 2020 for preclinical testing activities.

According to CEPI, the HKU vaccine has potential advantages, including that it is administered intranasally, which could help reduce transmission, is scalable to hundreds of millions of doses and features technology that can be easily adapted to target emerging COVID-19 strains.