Immunotherapies developer Scancell Holdings (AIM: SCLP) shares are rallying Friday morning after the company announced that it has selected its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, SN14 for further development and clinical trials.
The UK-based company were evaluating the antibody responses in 15 possible candidates that have a variety of technologies and chose SN14 as it “reproducibly elicited high-titre anti-S virus neutralising antibodies (VNAbs) together with high avidity T cells against both the S and N proteins.”
SN14 is a second-generation vaccine that offers several potential advantages, according to Scancell.
Back in October, the company entered into a collaboration agreement with Cobra Biologics to conduct preliminary work leading to the manufacture of SN14 to start a Phase 1 clinical trial as soon as possible during 2021.
“We are very excited about our SN14 second-generation COVID-19 vaccine which could have significant advantages over first-generation vaccines, either on its own or in combination with other vaccines to broaden and strengthen the immune response for long term protection,” said Lindy Durrant, Scancell’s Chief Scientific Officer.
The news has seen Scancell’s share price rise to highs of 13.80p on Friday. It is currently trading at 13.35p, up 11.25% at the time of this publication.