AEZS - Aeterna Zentaris (AEZS) inks option agreement to evaluate potential COVID-19 vaccine shares up 53%

Aeterna Zentaris (AEZS) soars 53% premarket in reaction to the announcement that it has entered into an exclusive option agreement to evaluate a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed at the Julius-Maximilians-University Wuerzburg.The vaccine technology developed at the University uses a typhoid fever vaccine as a carrier strain and has the potential to be an orally active SARS-CoV-2 live-attenuated bacterial vaccine. Under the option agreement, Aeterna has the right to negotiate an exclusive worldwide license to develop this technology for the prevention of coronavirus diseases, including COVID-19.If sufficient data to advance into human clinical trials is determined, the development program for this particular COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be abbreviated because extensive data is already available for the underlying vaccine strain, Salmonella Typhi Ty21a.Aeterna expects to make a decision whether to exercise its option to negotiate license for that technology by mid 2021. In addition, the use of dual antigens in one vaccine strain,

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Aeterna Zentaris (AEZS) inks option agreement to evaluate potential COVID-19 vaccine, shares up 53%