CSL keeping its options open in race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, despite UQ deal

Biotech giant CSL is keeping its options open despite a manufacturing deal with University of Queensland to accelerate its vaccine candidate.

Australian-based biotech company CSL is in ongoing talks with worldwide vaccine developers despite striking a deal with the University of Queensland to manufacture millions of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine if human trials prove successful.

Under the deal, which also involves the Oslo-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, CSL will provide scientific expertise for human trials of UQ’s vaccine candidate, dubbed S-clamp.

If trials show the vaccine is safe and effective, CSL is ready to start manufacturing millions of doses from its Melbourne plant with public access possible from mid-2021 under an accelerated delivery pipeline.

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CSL’s chief scientific officer Professor Andrew Cuthbertson. Photo: Hollie Adams.

But CSL’s chief scientific officer Andrew Cuthbertson stressed that while the company was committed to the UQ project, it was high risk.

“If it were to fail, which is not what we want to happen but it could, we would look to apply our skilled people and our facilities to the next best option,” Professor Cuthbertson said.

“We’re having those discussions right now, not at all behind the backs of our UQ colleagues, it’s just to manage that risk. We, in the end, want to apply our capabilities to producing a safe and effective vaccine.”

Describing COVID-19 as “one of the most urgent public health threats our generation has seen”, CSL CEO Paul Perreault said multiple vaccines would be needed to protect the world.

More than 100 other COVID-19 vaccine projects have been announced internationally.

“This isn’t a race against vaccines. This is a race against the virus,” Mr Perreault said.

“We don’t know enough about the virus even today to know how long it will be around, whether there’ll have to be additional doses of vaccine in the future. It’s imperative that everybody work as hard as we can collaboratively. The work that’s been going on with competitors and people working together around the globe has been unprecedented. Everybody’s committed.”

CSL CEO Paul Perreault. Photo: Stuart McEvoy

The UQ vaccine, based on the university’s molecular clamp technology, will be combined with an adjuvant, dubbed MF59, made by CSL company Seqirus, and used in CSL flu vaccines, to improve immune response, reduce the amount of antigen needed for each vaccine and enable more doses to be manufactured more quickly.

Professor Cuthbertson said it was premature to talk about total budget.

“It requires more R and D investment than we anticipated,” he said. “But we’re committed to resourcing this for success and we’re going to go at this very hard. We’re not planning to damage the rest of our portfolio in the process.”

Under the agreement, CSL and CEPI will share costs associated with the development and manufacture of the UQ vaccine candidate.

The University of Queensland COVID-19 vaccine team (left to right) Associate Professor Keith Chappell, Professor Paul Young and Professor Trent Munro with Innovation Minister Kate Jones. Photo: Annette Dew.

Almost three decades ago, UQ and CSL formed an alliance to develop the cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil.

“It resulted in a wonderful public health outcome for the world,” Professor Cuthbertson said. “We’re hoping to achieve something similar with this new collaboration.”

The UQ COVID-19 vaccine team of about 20 people is jointly led by Professor Paul Young and Associate Professor Keith Chappell. Program director is Professor Trent Munro.