Benzinga | Apr 8, 2021 10:59AM EDT

Single Dose Of ImmunityBio's Dual Antigen COVID-19 Vaccine Induces Ten-Fold Increase In T-Cell Responses

* ImmunityBio Inc (NASDAQ: IBRX) has reported initial data from the Phase 1 study evaluating its hAd5 COVID-19 vaccine candidate in healthy participants.

* Just 14-16 days after the single dose of the vaccine, the mean level of T cells generated in response to dual antigen hAd5 spike (S) + nucleocapsid (N) vaccine was ten times higher for N specific T cells.

* By day 21, both S and N T cell responses achieved levels ten times higher than pre-vaccination levels.

* Data also indicated that the hAd5 S+N vaccine could provide protection against both the first wave SARS-CoV-2 and variants.

* The mean T cell levels seen in the vaccinated participants were equivalent to those for patients recovered from infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

* This second-generation hAd5 vectored vaccine targets both spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) SARS-CoV-2 proteins to generate B and T cell memory to these antigens and long-term immunity to the virus.

* Price Action: IBRX shares are trading 1.55% higher at $19.03 during the market trading session on the last check Thursday.