PROVIDENCE – EpiVax Inc., a Providence-based vaccine design company, says it has formulated a coronavirus vaccine, and is in search of funding and partners to produce it.
The company is in the “discussion phases of who we’re going to work with,” said EpiVax CEO and chief science officer Annie S. De Groot.
“We’ve basically taken a look, decided how we would make a vaccine, and now we’re talking to the different platform companies” about producing it, she added.
Finding funding is now the biggest obstacle, De Groot said, adding that EpiVax has already spoken to at least one company about collaborating on making a vaccine.
With the right partner and enough money, EpiVax could make a vaccine that “could be put into people in months” for a phase one clinical trial, De Groot said.
To date, more than 17,300 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide, and at least 362 people have died in the outbreak.
So far, no cases have been reported in Rhode Island, and one case has been confirmed in Massachusetts since the outbreak began in China in December.
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Graham@PBN.com.
