The Canadian-based Medicago says it has received promising early test results for its plant-derived vaccine for COVID-19.
The company located in Quebec City says interim results of a Phase 1 clinical trial found that 100 per cent of subjects developed a promising antibody response after two doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
Medicago says the side effects were generally mild to moderate and short in duration.
The Phase 1 clinical trial was a randomized, partially blinded study of 180 healthy people.
Based on the Phase 1 data, Medicago plans to proceed with a Phase 2/3 clinical trial for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, subject to regulatory approval.
“These are very promising results. After two doses, the adjuvanted vaccine candidate induced robust neutralizing antibody and cellular immune responses which is encouraging and support further clinical evaluation,” said Nathalie Landry, Executive Vice President, Scientific and Medical Affairs at Medicago.
“We also observed that the antibody levels were higher after vaccination than those observed in convalescent sera from people who recovered from the disease.”
The federal government has signed deal with Medicago to secure the rights to buy 76 million doses of its vaccine. Medicago will also receive $173 million in funding from Ottawa for its vaccine research and development and for the construction of its Quebec City manufacturing facility.
Medicago released the news on Monday, one day after American-based Pfizer said preliminary data of its vaccine suggests shots could be 90 per cent effective at fighting COVID-19.
Canada has bought the rights to 20 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, if it proves effective and Health Canada approves it for use here, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government would purchase more if the initial round goes well.
With files to the Canadian Press
Graham Cox
