The world’s first plant-derived COVID-19 vaccine was cleared for use in Canada, creating a novel immunization to combat the virus from a unit of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp and Philip Morris International.
The vaccine, named Covifenz, was jointly developed by Medicago Inc, a biopharma company based in Quebec City, and GlaxoSmithKline PLC. It is to be available for adults aged 18 to 64, Medicago and Glaxo said in a statement on Thursday.
The approval gives people who are hesitant to take vaccines made using new technology — produced by Pfizer Inc, AstraZeneca PLC and Moderna Inc — another option. Many countries are struggling to raise vaccination rates and are requiring citizens to be immunized to get into restaurants, shopping malls, trains and planes.
The vaccine is easier to transport and store than rival mRNA shots, such as those from Pfizer and Moderna, as it does not need to be kept at ultra-low temperatures, he said.
Covifenz is made from plant proteins that appear to the human immune system like the virus that causes COVID-19, Medicago’s Web site says.
Medicago has a contract with the Canadian government to supply up to 76 million doses of the vaccine, and is in talks with other countries about potential agreements, CEO Takashi Nagao said.
The vaccine demonstrated 71 percent efficacy against multiple variants of the virus in December, Medicago said. It was 75 percent effective against the highly infectious Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, and nearly 89 percent effective against the Gamma variant, first identified in Brazil.
The Omicron variant was not circulating when the trial was conducted, although further tests against the strain are planned.
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