Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited has announced that it has started the first vaccinations in a phase 1/2 clinical trial in Japan of an mRNA vaccine (hereinafter, DS-5670) that is being developed by the company against the novel coronavirus infectious disease.

DS-5670 is being developed by Daiichi Sankyo’s proprietary novel nucleic acid delivery technology. Daiichi Sankyo is leading the research and development, in collaboration with the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Medical Science, through “Development of vaccines for the novel coronavirus disease (Second Round),” (company-initiated), which is promoted by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development. Results from preclinical studies suggest that positive safety and efficacy of DS-5670 have been confirmed.

The phase 1/2 trial is being conducted in Japan in a total of 152 healthy adults, including elderly individuals, to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine and thereby estimate the recommended dose of DS-5670. The endpoints for safety are adverse events and reactions, and those for immunogenicity are neutralizing antibody titer and IgG titer .