Arcturus Therapeutics and Duke-NUS to proceed with COVID-19 vaccine candidate human trials in Singapore
The clinical trial application for COVID-19 vaccine candidate LUNAR-COV19, developed by Arcturus Therapeutics and Duke-NUS Medical School, has been approved to proceed in Singapore. Human dosing is expected to commence soon.
Arcturus Therapeutics and Duke-NUS Medical School will proceed with human clinical trials for their COVID-19 vaccine candidate, LUNAR-COV19, following approval from Singapore's Health Sciences Authority. The company expects to begin administering doses to human volunteers shortly.
The vaccine utilizes Arcturus' STARR™ technology combined with a platform developed at Duke-NUS. Preclinical studies suggest that LUNAR-COV19 is designed to elicit both humoral and cellular immunity at very low doses, with a single dose potentially sufficient to generate a robust and durable immune response against SARS-CoV-2.
The Phase 1 human study will assess the safety, tolerability, and immune response in up to 108 adult volunteers, including older adults. Arcturus believes the vaccine candidate's profile may facilitate widespread vaccination campaigns due to its potential for low-dose, single-administration efficacy.
New preclinical data indicate that neutralising antibody levels continue to increase for over 50 days following a single administration of LUNAR-COV19. Arcturus Therapeutics, founded in 2013, focuses on messenger RNA medicines and vaccines, while Duke-NUS is a research-intensive graduate medical school based in Singapore.