Sanofi, GSK keep the ball rolling with data on second-gen Covid vaccine candidate
Sanofi and GSK are keeping the R&D engine churning for Covid-19 vaccines.
The partners, which have yet to get their first shot on the market, reported that their next-generation booster — modelled on the Beta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and incorporating GSK’s adjuvant — kicked up a stronger immune response to adults who received mRNA jabs than both its own first-generation shot and Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty.
Citing data from two trials, Sanofi first noted that in the Phase III COVIBOOST VAT02 Cohort 2 study, the next-gen candidate “generated double the number of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 compared to the D614-based (original parent virus) booster.”
Then from the much smaller COVIBOOST VAT013 study, which was conducted by a hospital in Paris, investigators also observed higher neutralizing antibody titers — with 76.1% of all participants seeing at least a “10-fold increase for the wild-type strain.” By comparison, 63.2% of those who got the Pfizer/BioNTech booster reached that threshold, and 55.3% of those who got the first-gen Sanofi/GSK booster did.
“Covid-19 keeps evolving and the combination of emergence of variants and waning immunity is likely to lead to the need for additional booster shots, at least in some populations,” said Thomas Triomphe, executive VP, Sanofi vaccines.
The first-generation candidate is now under regulatory reviews, the companies said.