Israeli-made oral Covid vaccine shows ‘promising results’ as booster

An Israeli start-up making an oral vaccine has reported promising results from pre-clinical trials suggesting it could be used as a booster.

MigVax, based in Kiryat Shmona, said tests carried out on rats showed that its MigVax-101 oral vaccine provoked higher antibody responses than a placebo when administered in a boost format.

The company is now hoping to launch the vaccine in full clinical trials, and believes it could be on the market within nine months of those trials.

“The results of this trial increase our confidence that our MigVax-101 subunit oral vaccine will make a positive contribution to a world coming to grips with the new post-pandemic reality,” said the company’s Prof. Itamar Shalit.

The pharma company believes the product would have a number of advantages, including ease of administration, and that it could be easily adapted to fight variants.

They also hope that it would help battle vaccine hesitancy, as it would not require being injected with deactivated viruses or genetic material to provoke an antibody response.