BERLIN (GERMANY) – Unlisted biotech firm IDT Biologika has won approval from Germany’s vaccine regulator, the third German company after BioNTech and CureVac to launch human trials of an experimental coronavirus vaccine.
The trial of the vaccine, developed with the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), will be conducted on 30 participants, who are aged between 18 and 55. They will receive two vaccinations at four-week intervals.
A larger Phase II trial on elderly volunteers, is planned to be conducted by the end of this year. This will be done if the results of the early-stage study find that the vaccine is safe and has an immune response.
IDT, based in Dessau-Rosslau in east Germany, makes viral vaccines for pharmaceutical companies. It has been providing help for six COVID-19 projects including AstraZeneca’s experimental shot against COVID-19.