(Bloomberg) – CanSino Biologics Inc.’s experimental coronavirus vaccine showed promising results in an intermediate-stage clinical study, paving the way for the next phase of testing as the Chinese company struggles with western pharmaceutical giants to deliver one of the first pandemics. vaccines.
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A laboratory worker uses a pipette while trying to isolate the presence of the coronavirus during the swab testing process in a laboratory at the Amedeo di Savoia hospital in Turin, Italy, Friday, February 28, 2020.
The injection was shown to be safe and to induce an immune response, according to a study published in the medical journal The Lancet, reinforcing the company’s status as a leader in the vaccine career. Still, CanSino shares fluctuated in Hong Kong trading on Tuesday, rising around 1% at noon after erasing a previous gain of up to 7.9%.
It is still too early to determine whether the vaccine candidate effectively protects against infection. The study found that people with a high level of preexisting immunity to an adenovirus used in the method of administration were less able to generate antibodies against the coronavirus. The authors also emphasized that no participant was exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus after vaccination.
Tianjin-based CanSino emerged as one of the fastest drivers of a vaccine in May, when it became the first company to publish a full scientific study of its first human trials, a crucial step because it allows researchers to assess the potential of a pharmaceutical product.
Vaccine candidates
Among other vaccine candidates, an injection of AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford showed promise on Monday in the first phase of testing, and a partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE also delivered positive trial updates. The results increase optimism about ways to counter a pandemic that killed more than 600,000 people and sparked an economic crisis worldwide.
The coronavirus pandemic, which first emerged in Wuhan late last year, has sparked a powerful research push in China amid heightened political tensions with the US Beijing has mobilized its health authorities, regulators of drugs and research institutes to work 24 hours with local companies.
CanSino’s experimental vaccine completed the second of the three stages of human testing required before a pharmaceutical product can be sold. Its ability to generate a response against Covid-19 is questioned by the level of immunity that participants have against the adenovirus that the vaccine uses to administer genetic material of the new coronavirus.
The Lancet study found that people with a high level of preexisting immunity to adenovirus tend to report fewer side effects, but also demonstrate less ability to generate antibodies. However, no difference was observed between the participants in their ability to stimulate the T cell response.
Antibodies could bind to spike proteins on the surface of the coronavirus, preventing it from entering cells. T cells can kill cells that are already infected with the virus. Both types of immunity are believed to be important in producing a successful vaccine against the virus.
‘Impressive’ data
“I thought the data was not impressive,” said Brad Loncar, CEO of Loncar Investments in the United States and an investor at CanSino. “The antibody and T cell responses were both very low.”
In addition to pre-existing adenovirus immunity, increasing age also significantly reduces the immune response, especially the ability to generate neutralizing antibodies.
Such pre-existing immunity, according to the study, “is considered the biggest hurdle for the candidate Ad5 vectorized COVID-19 vaccine to overcome.” The potential solution for the decreased immunity response, he says, would be a booster injection three to six months after the first inoculation. The planned CanSino trial in Canada has included groups of participants who will receive a second injection.
“Possible paths to victory for CanSino in the future are that the levels of immunity it offers are sufficient, especially for a younger population, or that they get a booster strategy,” Loncar said.
The study also noted that immunity to this type of adenovirus varies from place to place. While at least half of adults in developing countries, from India to Kenya, have high concentrations of neutralizing antibodies, less than 30% of adults in the United States are immune.
The study said CanSino is planning multicentre studies for the phase III trial to determine the vaccine’s effectiveness, indicating that the company may be looking for other places with severe Covid-19 outbreaks to test its vaccines in addition to Canada.
(Add stock trading in the second paragraph, plus more from the study plus analyst comment)
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