Dynavax's Adjuvant-Based Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Shows Encouraging Preclinical Action

Clover Biopharmaceuticals Ltd announced new promising data from a preclinical study on its bivalent vaccine candidate, which combines the trimeric spike antigens from the original SARS-CoV-2 strain and the omicron variant.
Clover developed the SCB-2019 antigen, a stabilized trimeric form of the S-protein based on the original strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It includes Dynavax Technologies Corporation's DVAX CpG 1018 advanced adjuvant and aluminum hydroxide.
In a preclinical study, the bivalent vaccine candidate elicited broad neutralization against all Variants of Concern (VoC), including omicron, in primary vaccination and booster settings.
Notably, compared to the monovalent omicron variant vaccine (SCB-2022B) alone, the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine demonstrated higher neutralization levels against most of the variants tested and comparable levels against omicron.
Clover expects to initiate a Phase 1 trial in Q2 evaluating SCB-2020S (a prototype and beta-variant chimeric vaccine candidate) to demonstrate proof-of-concept for variant strain change utilizing the Trimer-Tag platform.
Price Action: DVAX shares are down 5.89% at $8.79 during the market session on the last check Thursday.