Benzinga | Jul 12, 2021 11:20AM EDT

NRx Pharmaceuticals Announces Partnership With Israel Institute For Biological Research To Complete Development And Commercialization Of BriLife COVID Vaccine

NRx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:NRXP), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company announced today that it has signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with the Government of Israel to license exclusive worldwide development, manufacturing, and marketing rights to a novel Coronavirus vaccine developed by the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR).

The BriLife(tm) vaccine (technical name VSV ?G1) is based on a previous, FDA-approved vaccine platform that was further optimized by IIBR and targeted towards COVID-19. Because BriLife(tm) is a self-propagating, live-virus vaccine, NRx anticipates rapid and affordable industrial scaleup and manufacturing. The vaccine will initially be delivered by traditional injection.

The initiative will be led by NRx Chairman and CEO Jonathan Javitt, together with NRx Director Chaim Hurvitz, who chairs CH Health, an Israeli Private Equity group.

"We at NRx are honored to have been selected by the Government of Israel to carry forward this life-saving mission," said Mr. Hurvitz. As the first generation COVID vaccines are increasingly challenged by rapid mutation of the Coronavirus, we aim to develop a vaccine that can rapidly scale at low cost to serve the needs of both the developed and the developing world."

"As a physician and public health professional, I am inspired by the privilege of collaborating with an institution whose scientific roots date to Jonas Salk and the fight against Polio," said Prof Jonathan C Javitt, MD, MPH, CEO and Chairman of NRx, who has been involved in the fight against Coronaviruses since the 2002 SARS epidemic. "In its first year, the COVID pandemic has killed four million people worldwide, constituting the worst public health catastrophe since the 1918 Influenza epidemic. As the virus mutates and challenges the immunity we have built through first-generation vaccines, we are excited to expand our focus on COVID by including a vaccine platform that has potential to scale at high speed and low cost."

In its collaboration with NRx, the IIBR will provide technical assistance, while receiving customary royalty and milestone payments for its intellectual property. NRx has further committed to supplying all required doses of the vaccine for the population of Israel.