Release
2022/06/30
OSAKA, Japan, June 30, 2022 - Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Osaka, Japan; President and CEO: Isao Teshirogi, Ph.D.; hereafter "Shionogi") today announced that our universal antigen vaccine research effort has been adopted into the vaccine / new modality research and development project, as part of a public solicitation by the Advanced Research and Development Strategy Center (SCARDA)
SCARDA is an organization established within the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) in March 2022. Based on the "Vaccine Development / Production System Strengthening Strategy" decided by the Cabinet in June 2021, it was organized for the purpose of strengthening the R&D / production system during normal times so it wil be ready in times of pandemic emergency. SCARDA will work with the government to strategically fund research towards the practical development of vaccines. Our application was for "Universal Sarvecovirus Vaccine Research" as part of "Development of Vaccines for Severe Infectious Diseases". This research and development effort is focused on creating a universal Coronavirus antigen design technology that is less susceptible to viral mutations, and was accepted as a research subject by SCARDA on June 29, 2022.
The coronavirus universal antigen vaccine is expected to help to prepare for future potential COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) mutations and new pandemics. Since September 2021, we have been working on universal antigen design research in collaboration with KOTAI Biotechnologies, Inc.. From now on, we will proceed this research in collaboration with KOTAI [Collaborator of Research and Development Coordinator: Kazuo Yamashita, Ph.D., CEO] and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases [Collaborator of Research and Development Coordinator: Yoshimasa Takahashi, Ph.D., Director of Research Center for Drug and and Vaccine Development] to create a universal coronavirus vaccine that selectively induces neutralizing antibodies against regions where viral mutations are unlikely to occur. Not only would such a vaccine be expected to be highly effective and safe, but would also be projected to be not easily affected by viral mutations.
Shionogi is committed to “Protect people worldwide from the threat of infectious diseases” as our key focus. We are working towards total care for infectious diseases, through building awareness, epidemiological surveillance, prevention, diagnosis, and addressing exacerbations, as well as treating the infection itself. As a leading infectious disease company, we will focus on research and development of a coronavirus universal antigen vaccine with the support of SCARDA, and to rapidly providing vaccines to protect the health of patients around the world.
About KOTAI Biotechnologiess Co., Ltd.
KOTAI is a biotechnology company established in 2016 based on research results from Osaka University. As a group of experts in the information analysis of immunity and protein structure, KOTAI conducts research and development in collaboration with many research institutes, universities and pharmaceutical companies. Please see the KOTAI website for details. https://www.kotai-bio.com/
Our efforts against COVID-19 are consistently updated on our website. A considerable amount of valuable information on COVID-19 from other websites is also summarized on this page, so please use it for reference: SHIONOGI website
For Further Information, Contact:
SHIONOGI Website Inquiry Form : https://www.shionogi.com/global/en/contact.html