New COVID Vaccine Highly Effective Against Severe Disease, Companies Say
The companies, Sanofi and GSK, say they plan to submit data to the FDA and regulators in Europe.
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A new COVID vaccine was 100% effective at preventing COVID-19 hospitalization during a clinical trial, the vaccine's makers, Sanofi and GSK, said Wednesday in a press release. As promising data rolls in, the companies plan to seek authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration and regulators in Europe.
The two-dose vaccine was also 75% effective at preventing "moderate or severe" COVID-19 disease in Phase 3 of the trial, as well as 57.9% effective against symptomatic disease. This is in line, the companies said, with expected vaccine effectiveness during a time when variants of concern (such as delta and omicron) were dominant.
The vaccine is also effective as a booster for people who've been vaccinated with another COVID-19 vaccine, the companies said. They will also ask the FDA and other regulators to consider it as a booster candidate.
As The New York Times reported, the number of COVID-19 infections in the trial was small, and the vaccine's efficacy may have been lower in a larger trial. Full results on the vaccine as a primary series and as a booster will be published later this year, the companies said.
The new vaccine might be an especially useful tool in the fight against COVID-19, as it uses a different technology than other COVID vaccines, including Pfizer's or Moderna's (mRNA) or Johnson & Johnson's (a viral vector vaccine). The Sanofi-GSK vaccine is a protein-based vaccine, which is a common type of vaccine that's been in use for many years for shingles, hepatitis and more.
Novavax, a similar vaccine, submitted data for authorization to the FDA last month.
The Sanofi-GSK vaccine was one which received funding from Operation Warp Speed. However, progress was delayed in 2020 when the vaccine failed to produce a strong immune response in older adults. The companies then began working on a stronger version.
Sanofi and GSK are two of many companies working on COVID-19 vaccines, including some that have announced plans for variant-specific boosters. Some scientists have expressed more interest in the development of pan-coronavirus vaccines, such as the one being developed by the US Army, which doesn't target specific strains or variants of the coronavirus.
Read more: Here's How Long Your COVID Vaccine Booster Provides Protection