Dublin-listed pharmaceutical company Open Orphan has announced a new contract with Codagenix to conduct a first human trial evaluating safety and immunogenicity of a single-dose Covid-19 vaccine.
hVIVO, part of Open Orphan, will conduct the vaccine trial for Codagenix at its quarantine facility in London.
Open Orphan said that 48 healthy young adult volunteers will take part in the trial.
The Phase I study to due to start in early Autumn with initial data expected by the end of 2020.
Cathal Friel, executive chairman at Open Orphan, said the company was proud to be conducting this Phase I study for Codagenix as it will help bring a promising vaccine candidate to the public to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic as quickly as possible.
"hVIVO, with its unique quarantine facility, is one of the few organisations in the world that has now publicly stated that it is working on testing Covid-19 vaccines for efficacy using human challenge model clinical trials," Mr Friel said.
"Codagenix's expertise in viral design technology, combined with hVIVO's Phase I trial capability, gives us confidence that this trial will be successful and a step forward for the world as it seeks to develop a Covid-19 vaccine to bring the pandemic to a close," he added.
