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The race for a Covid-19 vaccine was hit by twin setbacks, as Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline delayed the launch of their vaccine until late next year and Australia abandoned a vaccine that produced “false positives” for HIV.
Sanofi of France and GSK of the United Kingdom said on Friday that their vaccine had failed to produce a strong immune response in the elderly, as they explained the delay until at least the last quarter of 2021.
Hours earlier, the Australian government said a homegrown Covid-19 vaccine would be phased out after several trial participants tested positive for HIV even though they were not infected with the virus that causes AIDS.
The events were a reminder of the difficulties of creating quick coups after several weeks in which progress on other projects raised hopes that the pandemic will be brought under control in 2021.
Many rich countries have placed orders for several candidate vaccines given the likelihood that not all will be safe and effective.
Sanofi and GSK said the first test results showed “an immune response comparable to that of patients who recovered from Covid-19 in adults ages 18 to 49, but a low immune response in older adults likely due to a high concentration insufficient antigen “- a reference to the molecule that stimulates the immune system.
GSK, which has more vaccine experience than some rival developers, including AstraZeneca, had previously said that it expected regulatory approvals in the first half of next year.
Both companies said they were disappointed with the results. Roger Connor, President of GSK Global Vaccines, said: “Our goal now is to work closely with our partner Sanofi to develop this vaccine, with an improved antigen formulation, to make a significant contribution to the prevention of Covid-19.” .
The companies said they planned to conduct further studies and that the product was now expected to be available in the fourth quarter of next year, provided the development plan was successfully completed.
The EU has ordered 300 million doses of the Sanofi / GSK vaccine, while the UK has requested 60 million doses. The United States has an order for initial doses of 100 m plus a 500 m option. Covax, an association that aims to ensure that vaccines reach the developing world, was set to receive 200 million.
The Australian vaccine was being developed by the University of Queensland and the pharmaceutical company CSL, which said it would not advance to phase 2 and 3 clinical trials due to concerns that it would interfere with HIV testing procedures and affect the confidence of the patient. public.
They stressed that there was no possibility that the vaccine could cause HIV infection and said that follow-up tests confirmed that no HIV was present in the trial participants.
The developers said the problems were related to the use of small fragments of a protein extracted from HIV to create the molecular clamp, which holds the synthetic coronavirus from the vaccine in place. The trial participants developed antibodies to this protein, known as gp41, which interfered with certain HIV tests, they said.
CSL / UQ said the vaccine elicited a strong immune response and had a strong safety profile. But significant changes to HIV testing procedures would be necessary if the vaccine were to be implemented, according to both organizations.
Scott Morrison, Australia’s prime minister, said abandoning the UQ / CSL vaccine would not delay the nation’s vaccination program, as CSL would now start manufacturing rival vaccines sooner.
Canberra announced that it had purchased an additional 31 million doses of rival vaccines produced by AstraZeneca / Oxford University and Novavax. He had already signed an agreement with Pfizer / BioNTech.
Australia plans to start rolling out its vaccination program from March, arguing that its success in suppressing the spread of the vaccine meant it did not have to rush to approve the vaccine.
