Variation Biotechnologies

Variation Biotechnologies Inc. (VBI) is a biopharmaceutical company, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with research facilities in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and a research and manufacturing site in Rehovot, Israel. Its Ottawa facility has approximately thirty researchers working with National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to produce a COVID-19 vaccine—VBI-2902.^[1]^[2] In August VBI received CA$56 million from the Government of Canada to prepare its vaccine for clinical trials by the end of 2020.^[1] The company's CEO, Jeff Baxter, said that VBI-2902 is cheaper to produce than other vaccines.^{[citation needed]}

Background[]

By 2007, VBI had received financial support from the National Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program, and . The company was originally financed by Clarus Ventures, a global life sciences venture capital firm under then CEO is Jeffrey Leiden, ARCH Venture Partners, 5AM Ventures and other private investors.^[2]

VBI-2902 vaccine[]

In early 2020, in collaboration with NRC the VBI's vaccine—VBI-2900—was developed. According to the company, they have two vaccine candidates—"enveloped virus-like particle (eVLP)".^[3] VBI-2901 is a "trivalent pan-coronavirus vaccine expressing the SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV spike proteins". VBI-2902 is a "monovalent COVID-19-specific vaccine expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein".^[3] By March 9, the initial Phase 1/2 study of VBI-2902 was underway.^[3] VBI received CA$56 million from the federal government towards the COVID-19 vaccine development.^[1] The company's CEO, Jeff Baxter, said that VBI-2902 is cheaper to produce than other vaccines.^{[citation needed]}