Oramed Pharma To Form JV To Develop Oral COVID-19 Vaccines - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ORMP) said that it has reached agreements to form a joint venture to develop oral COVID-19 vaccines. The oral vaccine successfully produced antibodies in a pre-clinical study after a single dose.

In Friday pre-market trade, ORMP was trading at $9.83 up $0.51 or 5.47 percent.

The new company, Oravax Medical Inc., is based on Oramed's proprietary POD oral delivery technology and Premas Biotech Pvt. Ltd.'s vaccine technology.

Oramed noted that an oral COVID-19 vaccine would eliminate several barriers to rapid, widescale distribution, potentially enabling people to take the vaccine themselves at home.

".. While ease of administration is critical today to accelerate inoculation rates, an oral vaccine could become even more valuable in the case that a COVID-19 vaccine may be recommended annually like the standard flu shot," said Nadav Kidron, CEO of Oramed.

In a pilot animal study, the oral COVID-19 vaccine promoted both systemic immunity through Immunoglobulin G (IgG), the most common antibody in blood and bodily fluids that protects against viral infections, and Immunoglobulin A or IgA, Oramed said in a statement.

Oravax anticipates commencing a clinical study during the second quarter of 2021.