The world’s first plant-derived Covid-19 vaccine has been cleared for use in Canada for adults aged 18 to 64.
Canadian regulators said on Thursday that Medicago's two-dose vaccine was authorised based on a study of 24,000 adults.
It found that the vaccine was 71% effective at preventing Covid-19 — although that was before the Omicron variant emerged. It was 75% effective against the highly-infectious delta variant and nearly 89% effective against the gamma variant first identified in Brazil.
The vaccine, named Covifenz, was jointly developed by Medicago Inc., a biopharma company owned by Mitsubishi Chemical and Philip Morris and based in Quebec City, and GlaxoSmithKline Plc.
Medicago uses plants as living factories to grow virus-like particles, which mimic the spike protein that coats the coronavirus. The particles are removed from the plants' leaves and purified. Another ingredient, an immune-boosting chemical called an adjuvant that is made by British partner GlaxoSmithKline, is added to the shots.
While numerous Covid-19 vaccines have been rolled out around the world, global health authorities are looking for additional candidates in hopes of increasing the worldwide supply.
The approval gives people who are hesitant to take currently available vaccines made by Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca Plc and Moderna Inc. another option. Many countries are struggling to raise vaccination rates and are requiring citizens to be immunized to get into restaurants, shopping malls trains and planes.
Medicago has a contract with the Canadian government to supply up to 76 million doses of the vaccine and is in talks with other countries about potential agreements, Chief Executive Officer Takashi Nagao has said. The immunization was granted fast-track designation by the US Food and Drug Administration in February 2021.
The company hopes Covifenz will generate about $1 billion a year eventually, Mitsubishi Chemical’s Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marc Gilson said in an interview last week. The vaccine is easier to transport and store than rival mRNA shots, such as those from Pfizer and Moderna, since it doesn’t need to be kept at ultra-low temperatures, he said.
Quebec City-based Medicago is developing plant-based vaccines against multiple other diseases, and the Covid-19 vaccine may help spur more interest in this new method of medical manufacturing.
