UK Government - 1st steps to Gen 2/suite of vaccines6 Feb 2021 09:56
RE UK gov pre-order of Curevac:
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/u-k-government-taps-curevac-to-target-covid-19-variants-new-vaccines
“Today’s agreement will help ensure the UK is best prepared against the emergence of any significant new virus variant as mRNA vaccines can be rapidly adapted to be effective against new virus variants more easily than traditional vaccine technologies,” said Clive Dix, Ph.D., interim chair of the U.K. Vaccines Taskforce, in the statement. "We are constantly tracking the virus so we can identify any significant new variant as quickly as possible; therefore, as part of this agreement, CureVac and the UK Government will assess multiple virus variants and are expected to generate multiple vaccine candidates against those selected.”
Clinical trials run by Pfizer, Moderna and the University of Oxford ended before the emerging variants started to account for a significant proportion of COVID-19 cases in the countries where those trials took place.
"Moderna has since presented in vitro data suggesting its vaccine is as effective against the British variant as the original SARS-CoV-2 variant, while Novavax has reported data for its vaccine against two of the variants. A phase 3 study testing Novavax’s candidate in 15,000 patients found it 89.3% effective against the British strain, but a smaller phase 2b study showed the vaccine did far worse against the South African variant."
The phase 2b was relatively small, and other differences between the studies—such as their definitions of symptomatic disease—may have played a role in the lower efficacy. Yet the clinical data still add to a growing body of evidence that existing COVID-19 vaccines may be less effective against this particular variant."
Key points for me: "...the UK Government will assess multiple virus variants and are expected to generate multiple vaccine candidates against those selected.”"
UK gov builiding a suite of vaacines it seems, they know the variants are the big problem now IMO.
Also I'm sure the government would very much like to have a UK based Gen 2 in their suite too? One they have already provided funds for too perhaps.
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