The European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave the green light on Thursday to the booster vaccine against Covid-19 developed by the French laboratory Sanofi and the British GlaxoSmithKline, which gave positive results against the Omicron variant in clinical trials. . The approval of the “new generation” serum by the European regulator is a boost for Sanofi and GSK, which have fallen behind their rivals in the offer of a vaccine.
VidPrevtyn Beta serum could be used as a booster dose in adults previously immunized with injections of mRNA vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna, or virus-vectored vaccines made by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, the EMA said.
Higher protection against Omicron
“A booster dose of VidPrevtyn Beta should be at least as effective as Comirnaty (from Pfizer) in restoring protection against Covid-19,” the EMA said in a statement. A trial in 162 adults who received the booster dose showed that Sanofi-GSK’s vaccine elicits higher production of antibodies against Omicron’s BA.1 subvariant than Pfizer’s original vaccine, EMA says .
A second study restored immunity in 627 adults who had received other vaccines for their first round of injections. Sanofi and GSK developed the “next-generation” vaccine at the same time as they await regulatory approval for their first-generation vaccine.
The laboratory says it is ready for the first shipments
This vaccine combines an antigen developed by Sanofi, which stimulates the production of germ-killing antibodies, with GSK’s adjuvant technology, a substance which reinforces the immune response triggered by a vaccine. The French laboratory said it was ready to start its first shipments of the booster vaccine.
“Today’s approval validates our research to develop a new solution to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Thomas Triomphe, executive vice president for vaccines at Sanofi, said in a statement.
Source: Europe1
Brayden White, a veteran sports writer at Global Happening, brings his wealth of knowledge and expertise to the sports section. With over a decade of experience, he is committed to delivering high-quality coverage of the latest games and events.
