Benzinga | May 26, 2021 09:09AM EDT

Altimmune's Intranasal COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Neutralizes South African Variant, Animal Study Shows

* Altimmune Inc (NASDAQ: ALT) has announced new results from a preclinical study of AdCOVID, the company's vaccine candidate.

* Data demonstrated that the vaccine neutralized the COVID-19 B.1.351 variant that originated in South Africa.

* The neutralizing titer against the B.1.351 variant virus was only 4.4-fold lower than the original Wuhan-like isolate when measured seven weeks after a single intranasal dose of AdCOVID.

* Furthermore, in mice that received a booster dose of AdCOVID, the reduction in the neutralizing titer against the variant was only 1.8-fold lower at seven weeks post-vaccination; statistically the same as the neutralization titer against the Wuhan isolate.

* Price Action: ALT shares are up 5.2% at $12.41 during the premarket session on the last check Wednesday.