OGEN News proposed phase 1

 Oragenics Up 32%

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OGEN

By Michael Dabaie 

Oragenics Inc. shares were up 32% to $1.01 in Thursday late-morning trading. 

The company in a letter to stockholders provided an update on the Terra CoV-2 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, saying it expects to file an Investigational New Drug application in the third quarter of 2021. 

Oragenics said it added this vaccine candidate as a result of its May 2020 acquisition of Noachis Terra, and immediately began preclinical work. Noachis Terra is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Oragenics. 

The company said it holds a nonexclusive intellectual property license from the National Institutes of Health to the prefusion stabilized spike protein vaccine candidate. 

The letter to stockholders from Chief Executive Alan Joslyn said the company believes recent Phase 3 data reported relating to the Moderna vaccine supports the concept of utilizing the stabilized spike protein. 

The company said work it undertook "supports our expectation to file the IND mid-year with commencement of patient enrollment in the Phase 1 clinical study immediately thereafter. The proposed Phase 1 study protocol is under development." 

"While the world's attention is on COVID-19, we also believe that our vaccine may provide some benefit against other coronaviruses that, unfortunately, may emerge or strengthen in the coming years," the letter to stockholders said. 

"We firmly believe that even with two or more vaccines projected to be on the market in the coming months, given the size of the worldwide pandemic there will be plenty of demand for the Terra CoV-2 vaccine, once development is successfully completed," the letter said. 

Write to Michael Dabaie at michael.dabaie@wsj.com 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 14, 2021 11:18 ET (16:18 GMT)
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