Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX) surged 8% Thursday following the announcement of encouraging topline data from its Phase 1/2 trial of Z-1018, the company’s experimental shingles vaccine.
The trial showed that Z-1018 produced immune responses comparable to GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK)’s Shingrix, the leading shingles vaccine, while offering a notably improved tolerability profile. At the selected dose, Z-1018 achieved a 100% humoral response rate, compared with 96.9% for Shingrix.
Importantly, adverse reactions were significantly lower with Z-1018. Only 12.5% of participants reported grade 2 or 3 local reactions and 27.5% reported grade 2 or 3 systemic reactions, versus 52.6% and 63.2% respectively for Shingrix.
CEO Ryan Spencer stated, “These positive results represent a key milestone for our shingles vaccine program. We aim to develop a best-in-class product capable of competing in the multi-billion-dollar shingles vaccine market currently dominated by a single product.”
Dynavax has selected the 100 mcg dose of glycoprotein E antigen, adjuvanted with CpG 1018 and alum, on an 8-week schedule, to advance into Part 2 of the trial. This next phase will focus on adults aged 70 and older and is expected to begin in the second half of 2025.
The Z-1018 vaccine leverages Dynavax’s proprietary CpG 1018 adjuvant, which is already used in the FDA-approved hepatitis B vaccine HEPLISAV-B.
Dynavax Technologies Corporation stock price
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