Immuno Cure BioTech, a clinical stage biotechnology group based in the Hong Kong Science Park specialising in DNA vaccines and immunotherapies, has announced that Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) has awarded maximum amount of HK$8 million matching funding to Immuno Cure under the Clinical Translational Catalyst programme (CTC Programme) for conducting the Phase 1 Clinical Trial of ICVAX, a therapeutic vaccine against HIV/AIDS.

The CTC Programme funding of HK$8 million will be drawn down by Immuno Cure in the next 27 months in various tranches according to the progress of the clinical trial of ICVAX.

Immuno Cure previously received the University-Industry Collaboration Programme and Cash Rebate Scheme funding of some HK$8.4 million from the Government’s Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) for the research and development of ICVAX since early 2018. As a collaborator, the AIDS Institute of The Hong Kong University has subsequently received a total amount of HK$ 47 million from Government’s Research Grants Council Theme-based Research Scheme for basic and translational research on “Potentiating Host Immunity for HIV-1 Functional Cure”.

ICVAX is a therapeutic HIV DNA vaccine developed using the patented PD-1-Enhanced DNA Vaccine platform, aiming to induce cross-reactive viral-specific T cells to achieve functional cure in HIV. This vaccine is developed by Immuno Cure in collaboration with HKU AIDS Institute. Immuno Cure has successfully obtained the approval of Investigational New Drug application of ICVAX by the National Medical Products Administration in the Mainland. Together with the approval granted by the ethics committee of The Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, Immuno Cure is initiating a First-in-Human Phase 1 clinical trial of ICVAX in the hospital.