Vaccitech and the Oxford-AZ COVID-19 Vaccine: Spearheading Global Health Innovation
A landmark partnership between academia and industry. A commitment to equity and fair access. A vaccine developed in under a year. An estimated 6 million lives saved globally in 2021 alone. The amazing story of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and its protagonists - well told by now - is the story of one of the most significant health breakthroughs in recent history.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was co-developed by Oxford spinout Vaccitech and the University’s Jenner Institute (where Vaccitech has its academic origins through co-founders Professor Sarah Gilbert and Professor Adrian Hill). Vaccitech’s ChAdOx platform uses a replication deficient chimpanzee version of the common cold virus as a vector for the key ingredient - in COVID’s case the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein - that primes the recipient’s immune system to fight off an infection if or when it arrives.
While best known for its role in the battle against COVID, the ChAdOx platform - alongside Vaccitech’s MVA - can be turned towards a host of other diseases and disease areas, harnessing the power of the immune system’s T cells.
With Vaccitech’s proven scientific expertise and a broad, high-value portfolio, the company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2021 and acquired Avidea Technologies at the beginning of 2022. The Avidea acquisition added the SNAPvax™ platform to Vaccitech’s portfolio; a self-assembling, fully synthetic platform that co-delivers multiple antigens and immunomodulators, and gives the company opportunities to advance into the autoimmune space.
Vaccitech’s current pipeline includes novel T cell immunotherapeutics, at various stages of development, for hepatitis B, HPV, coeliac disease, prostate cancer and MERS. Beyond Vaccitech itself, researchers at universities worldwide are using its proprietary technologies to develop vaccines for deadly and debilitating viruses such as rabies, malaria, HIV and Zika (to name just a few).
The societal and economic impacts of Vaccitech and the Oxford-AZ vaccine are, realistically, immeasurable. Beyond the immediate benefits of reducing COVID-19’s spread and severity, the vaccine has helped revive economies, reopen societies, and restore a sense of normality to billions worldwide.
Impact
- COVID-19 vaccine: more than 3 billion doses delivered to 180 countries by end of 2022
- COVID-19 vaccine: up to an estimated 122.4 million hospitalisations prevented
- 9 programmes in Vaccitech’s pipeline across infectious diseases, cancer and autoimmunity
Vaccitech’s current pipeline includes novel T cell immunotherapeutics, at various stages of development, for hepatitis B, HPV, coeliac disease, prostate cancer and MERS.
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