iBio, Inc. announced an update for its lead COVID-19 vaccine program, IBIO-202, in light of the emergence of the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of SARS-CoV-2. On November 26, 2021, the World Health Organization?s (?WHO?) Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution classified Omicron as a Variant of Concern.1 According to the WHO, the Omicron variant has at least 30 mutations in the spike ("S") protein, which has been the target of first-generation COVID-19 vaccines. The Company believes that the N protein represents an important target for next-generation COVID-19 vaccines for several reasons. First, the N protein is abundantly expressed during infection and contains multiple immunogenic epitopes. Second, the N protein is more highly conserved than the S protein, and therefore, new variants may be less likely to escape vaccine protection. Third, research has shown that the N protein appears to be significantly more effective than the S protein in stimulating antibody-dependent natural killer cell activation, a critical element of the adaptive immune response that the SARS-CoV-2 virus attempts to evade.