BHBP Biotech Firms Starts COVID-19 Vaccine Trials

February 23, 2021

Codagenix, the clinical-stage biotechnology company located at the Broad Hollow Bioscience Park on campus, has started human trials of a COVID-19 vaccine it hopes to be able to commercialize beginning in 2022.

In addition, Codagenix has secured a U.S. patent for a vaccine administered nasally to fight respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

Robert Coleman, PhD, an associate professor of Biology at FSC, co-founded Codagenix, Inc. in 2012 to commercialize the genome design platform for vaccine development that he has previously co-invented.

Jeffrey Fu, chief business officer of Codagenix, told Newsday that the first doses in the double-blind, placebo-controlled study were administered to volunteers in London this month.

Last month, Codagenix secured the patent for a vaccine to fight RSV, a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Many of those affected by RSV frequently recover within 7-14 days, but RSV remains a serious condition for certain populations. It can be especially serious for infants and older adults.