Bioengineering company Genexine said Monday that it has partnered with Binex, a CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organization) biopharmaceutical company, to develop a vaccine for the new coronavirus.

The two companies held a ceremony to launch a consortium on Friday, jointly with GenNBio, International Vaccine Institute, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH).

The consortium will develop a DNA vaccine using GX-19, Genexine’s drug candidate, to cope with COVID-19. The consortium plans to start the clinical trials from July.

Genexine and Binex also signed a memorandum of understanding during the ceremony. The two companies synthesized a new antigen gene in February, and have begun to prepare to receive good manufacturing practice (GMP) certification.

The two companies’ collaboration was based on their previous experiences in producing various DNA vaccines, including GX-188E, a cervical cancer vaccine.

The companies will seek a procedure for rapid clinical approval as soon as they finish preparing clinical materials, and are planning to conduct clinical trials on healthy patients, too.

Genexine and Binex plan to build a platform to develop vaccines against other new viruses quickly.

“The construction of a platform to commercialize DNA vaccines will mean not just the success of developing a COVID-19 DNA vaccine, but have a great impact on the new vaccine paradigm,” officials from both companies said.

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