TOP NEWS: Sanofi, GSK booster jab impresses against Omicron

(Alliance News) - Sanofi SA on Monday said its Covid-19 booster jab developed alongside GSK PLC delivers a stronger immune response to the Omicron variant than other jabs.

The jab produced a significant boost in antibody titers above baseline against multiple variants of concern.

"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 vice president at Sanofi Vaccines.

"The Beta variant expresses similar mutations across multiple variants of concern, including Omicron, making it a strong vaccine candidate to confer broad protection against multiple strains of Covid-19."

Sanofi said over 76% of trial participants saw a more than 10-fold increase in neutralizing antibody levels for the original D614 SARS-CoV-2 strain up to day 15.

For the Pfizer Inc-BioNTech SE jab, that proportion was just over 63%. For Sanofi and GSK's first-generation parent booster candidate, the percentage was just over 55%.

"In this study, which included 247 subjects, all the three vaccines also elicited neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron BA.1 variant, with highest responses generated by the Sanofi-GSK next-generation candidate," Sanofi added.

The trial results suggest Sanofi and GSK still have a role to play in the fight against Covid-19, despite the duo stumbling out of the blocks in the global vaccine race.

Back in December 2020, the duo announced a delay in their Covid-19 vaccine programme after seeing an insufficient response in older adults".

Sanofi shares were 0.6% lower at EUR96.33 each in Paris on Monday morning. GSK was up 0.3% at 1,741.40 pence each in London.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

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