Benzinga | Sep 16, 2020 09:42AM EDT

Voltron Therapeutics Reports Execution Of Manufacturing Deal With Global Contract Development, Manufacturing Organization For Its Hoth Therapeutics-Partnerd HaloVax COVID-19 Novel Vaccine Candidate

Voltron Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has executed a manufacturing agreement for its vaccine portfolio with a global pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization. The agreement partners Voltron with a multi-national company known for enabling companies in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries worldwide to advance discoveries and deliver groundbreaking treatments to patients.

Today's news comes on the heels of the Company's announcement of the successful completion of its first small animal safety and immunogenicity study assessing the effect of novel vaccine Halovax(tm) against COVID-19. The vaccine construct was completed with positive response to selected COVID-19 peptides in conjunction with the self-assembling vaccine prototype. The study demonstrates that selection algorithm for immunogenic peptides is functioning appropriately.

HaloVax is being developed in conjunction with Hoth Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOTH).

The company's vaccines are built on a base of a heat shock protein (HSP70) that activates the cellular portion of the immune system; this is different from most other vaccine efforts, which have used adjuvants such as alum. The second portion of the vaccine consists of peptides derived from the target of the vaccine -- which can be a virus or a cancer patient's tumor. These are bound to the heat shock protein via Avidin and Biotin. This enables rapid iteration and up-to-date data informed changes in the peptide sequences to enable swift production of the vaccine.

"We are pleased to have executed a manufacturing agreement with an international contract manufacturer for our vaccine portfolio. This initiative builds atop our recent operational momentum, including our recently announced successful preclinical testing of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate. We are now actively moving toward starting clinical trials in humans with the goal of bringing to market proven and effective vaccines to help treat a range of conditions, including various cancers and COVID-19," said Pat Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer, Voltron Therapeutics, Inc.