The French pharmaceutical company, Sanofi and Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline vaccine candidate has reported a strong immune response in early-stage clinical trial results. The results enablethem to move to a late-stage trial. The vaccine has raised hopes in joining the battle against the global pandemic.
“The Sanofi and GSK adjuvanted recombinant Covid-19 vaccine candidate achieved strong rates of neutralizing antibody responses, in line with those measured in people who have recoveredfrom Covid19, in all adult age groups in a Phase 2 study with 722 volunteers. A global pivotal Phase 3 is expected to start in the coming weeks,” said French pharmaceutical giant, Sanofi.
According to an earlier study in December 2020, the vaccine had shown a low immune response in older adults. These results were disappointing to those who thought it would play a crucialrole in fighting the pandemic.
However, this time the vaccine has given positive results. If the vaccine becomes available in the last three months of this year, it can play a significant role in the battle against Covidin developing countries, where the pace of vaccination is slow.
“Our Phase 2 data confirm the potential of this vaccine to play a role in addressing this ongoing public health crisis, as we know multiple vaccines will be needed, especially as variantscontinue to emerge and the need for effective and booster vaccines which can be stored at normal temperatures, increases,” said executive vice president and global head of Sanofi Pasteur, Thomas Triomphe.
He further added that with the favorable results, the vaccine candidate is ready to progress to a global Phase 3 efficacy study.