Dynavax Technologies Corporation outlined its strategic priorities for 2022, and announced the newest candidate in its clinical development portfolio – a herpes zoster virus (shingles) vaccine candidate. Dynavax anticipates continued profitability in 2022 driven by its CpG 1018 adjuvant supply business for COVID-19 vaccines and increasing HEPLISAV-B sales. Shingles is an extremely painful consequence of the reactivation of a latent varicella zoster virus infection, with attacks leading to potential complications including chronic pain.

The current shingles vaccine market is approximately $2 billion and expected to grow over time. CpG 1018 adjuvant has demonstrated its ability to enhance the immune response without excessive reactogenicity in both HEPLISAV-B and multiple COVID-19 clinical trials. Importantly, CpG 1018 has shown the ability to generate high levels of CD4+ t-cells which have been demonstrated to be key cell types in controlling latent VZV infection to avoid reactivation leading to shingles.

The global phase 1 study is designed to evaluate safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate which is comprised of glycoprotein E (gE) plus CpG 1018 adjuvant. Data from this trial is expected to be available by the end of 2022.