South Korea’s organ transplant company GenNBio Inc. and its largest shareholder Genexine Inc. announced Wednesday that they have dosed its DNA candidate vaccine GX-19 to non-human primates to evaluate its efficacy in preventing infection from COVID-19.

The test came after Genexine formed a consortium with International Vaccine Institute, GenNBio, Binex and prestigious tech schools KAIST and Postech to develop the DNA vaccine GX-19.

The vaccine testing in non-human primates will be led by GenNBio. Non-human primates are often considered the best available animal model to evaluate safety and immunogenicity due to their genetic relatedness to humans.

An official from Genexine said it aims to begin a human clinical trial as early as June.

DNA vaccination is a novel technique that induces adaptive immune responses by injecting genetically engineered plasmid.

Shares of GenNBio closed Wednesday 21.13 percent higher at 814 won ($0.66) in the secondary Kosdaq market, and Genexine up 4.86 percent at 53,900 won.

By Pulse

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