Health Canada Approves Medicago’s Covid Vaccine
Health Canada has approved the recombinant Covid-19 vaccine produced by Canadian biotech Medicago that uses the pandemic adjuvant made by British pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline. The shot marketed as Covifenz uses a plant-based virus-like particles technology to imitate the coronavirus’ spike protein.
The approval is the first for the biotech based in Quebec City and the first for a shot using this GSK adjuvant. The technology is said to allow the vaccine to be stored at normal refrigeration temperatures of 2-8°C. The two doses are administered by intramuscular injection 21 days apart.
In a phase 3 trial with more than 24,000 adults across six countries, completed late last year, Covifenz showed 71% efficacy against several Covid variants. It was not tested against Omicron, which was not prevalent at the time of the studies.
Canada previously approved the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines and, most recently, the Novavax shot. In addition to those and the Medicago vaccine it has also signed a supply contract with Sanofi-GSK and several other manufacturers.
Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist
