The Franco-Austrian laboratory Valneva reported Monday of "
initial positive
"
results
as part of its phase 3 trials for its candidate vaccine against Covid-19.
"
The trial met its two main endpoints
," said the laboratory in a press release.
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In a comparison with the AstraZeneca vaccine, it “
demonstrated superiority over the AZD1222 vaccine in terms of average neutralizing antibody titers (...) as well as non-inferiority in terms of seroconversion rate (SCR greater than 95% in both vaccine groups) two weeks after the second injection (ie on day 43) in adults aged 30 and over
”. The announcement comes a little over a month after the British government terminated its contract for 100 million doses. The information had caused the title of Valneva to fall heavily on the stock market. The French government then assured that the European Union was still interested in Valneva's vaccine and was continuing its negotiations.
An "alternative" solution for people not yet vaccinated
A total of 4,012 participants aged 18 and over were recruited from 26 sites in the UK as part of the pivotal Phase 3 trial. The vaccine candidate was "
generally well tolerated
", says Valneva: "
the profile tolerance of VLA2001 was statistically significantly more favorable compared to the other vaccine used in the trial
”.
“
This is a much more traditional approach to vaccine manufacturing than the vaccines that have been deployed so far in the UK, Europe and the US, and these results suggest that this vaccine candidate is in the pipeline. on track to play an important role in the fight against the pandemic,
"said Adam Finn, principal investigator of the trial and professor of pediatrics at the University of Bristol, quoted in the press release.
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For Thomas Lingelbach, CEO of Valneva, “
these excellent results confirm the benefits often associated with inactivated whole virus vaccines
”. He adds that the laboratory wishes to register its vaccine candidate "
as quickly as possible
" in order to "
offer an alternative vaccine solution to people who have not yet been vaccinated
". The laboratory indicates that it has "
started the gradual submission of the initial authorization application dossier to the British Health Agency (MHRA)
", which requires "
a final validation of one of the tests used in the trial
", currently "
In progress
". He also prepares "
progressive submission to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as part of a conditional authorization request
”.