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(Alliance News) - GlaxoSmithKline PLC announced on Tuesday positive phase three efficacy and safety results for its plant-based Covid-19 vaccine candidate, made in partnership with Medicago.
The Brentford-based pharmaceutical company said it has seen an overall vaccine efficacy rate of 71% against all variants of Covid-19 included in a study of over 24,000 adult subjects across six countries.
The vaccine demonstrated efficacy of 75% against the Delta variant and an 89% efficacy against the Gamma variant. However the Omicron variant was not circulating during the study and thus was not tested.
During the study, no related serious adverse events were reported and reactions to the vaccine were generally mild to moderate and transient, with symptoms lasting on average only one to three days. The frequency of mild fever was low, at less than 10% even after the second dose.
Based on the results, Medicago has said it will imminently seek regulatory approval from the Canadian regulator. The vaccine candidate is not yet approved by any regulatory authority. It would be the world's first plant-based Covid-19 vaccine if approved.
GlaxoSmithKline said full results of the phase three study will be released in a peer-reviewed publication as soon as possible.
Global Covid-19 adjuvanted vaccines lead and Chief Global Health Officer Thomas Breuer said: "These are encouraging results given data were obtained in an environment with no ancestral virus circulating. The global Covid-19 pandemic is continuing to show new facets with the current dominance of the Delta variant, upcoming Omicron, and other variants likely to follow. The combination of GlaxoSmithKline's established pandemic adjuvant with Medicago's plant-based vaccine technology has significant potential to be an effective, refrigerator-stable option to help protect people against Covid-19."
Shares were up 0.7% at 1,566.14 pence on Tuesday in London.
By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com
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