Ubio receives 18 billion KRW government support for Phase 3 clinical trial of COVID-19 vaccine 'Ucovac-19'

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] UbioLogics announced on the 2nd that its COVID-19 vaccine under development, 'EuCorVac-19,' has been selected for the COVID-19 Therapeutics and Vaccine New Drug Development Project by the Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and final research funding has been confirmed.

This project sets the milestone as the Phase 3 comparative clinical trial and local regulatory approval of EuCorVac-19 in the Philippines. The research period is one year, with a total research budget of 25 billion KRW, of which about 18 billion KRW will be supported by the government. The remainder will be covered by the company’s own funds.

UbioLogics was selected last February by the COVID-19 Therapeutics and Vaccine New Drug Development Project Group for clinical support of COVID-19 vaccines and received about 9 billion KRW for Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. This time, it became the first domestic company to receive support for Phase 3 clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine. In addition to separately conducting Phase 3 clinical trials since the end of June targeting local registration in Africa, the company will now conduct Phase 3 clinical trials involving 4,000 adults in the Philippines through this government support.

Through the successful completion of this Phase 3 clinical trial, the company plans to have EuCorVac-19’s platform technology recognized and to continue further development such as additional booster vaccines, vaccines responding to new variants, and combo vaccines. In preparation for COVID-19 becoming endemic, the company plans to apply for domestic booster clinical trials for an additional booster vaccine candidate selected internally within this month. It is also applying for government projects for non-clinical research by securing a universal vaccine candidate responding to new variants.

A company official stated, “We currently have memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for the supply of EuCorVac-19 with companies in the Philippines and Saudi Arabia,” adding, “Many countries in Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Latin America have shown great interest.” He further added, “Based on competitiveness in safety, distribution convenience, and price, we will actively seek export markets such as low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with large populations and high unmet vaccine demand.”