According to statements made by both Sanofi and GSK on Friday, late-stage research on an experimental COVID-19 vaccine demonstrated that the shot protects against the Omicron version of the virus. This information was revealed by the two pharmaceutical firms.
The so-called bivalent vaccination is designed to protect against both the original Wuhan strain of the virus as well as the Beta variation, which was found for the first time in South Africa.
The vaccine showed a rate of efficacy of 64.7 percent against symptomatic COVID in a study that involved 13,000 individuals. Furthermore, the vaccination displayed a rate of efficacy of 72 percent against infections that were particularly caused by the Omicron variety.
The outcomes were stronger when the treatment was administered to patients who had COVID in the past. According to the statements made by the businesses, the vaccine had an effectiveness rate of 75.1 percent against symptomatic COVID and 93.2 percent in Omicron-confirmed instances of symptomatic COVID.
“Sanofi-vaccine GSK’s is the first candidate to demonstrate efficacy in a placebo-controlled trial in an environment of high Omicron variant circulation,” Sanofi said in a statement. “Sanofi-vaccine GSK’s is the first candidate to demonstrate efficacy in an environment of high Omicron variant circulation.”
During the morning session of trading, both Sanofi’s shares listed in Paris and GSK’s shares listed in London increased by more than 1 percent.
When administered as a booster shot, the bivalent vaccination shown promise in two clinical tests earlier this month for its ability to ward against the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 strains of the virus, which are considered to be the most dangerous.
After falling behind competitors such as Moderna, AstraZeneca NSE -0.59 percent, and Pfizer-BioNTech, in the original race to contain the pandemic, Sanofi and GSK, two of the world’s biggest vaccine makers, are hoping to gain a foothold in the market for next-generation variant-focused COVID shots. This comes after they fell behind in the race to contain the pandemic.
According to what was announced by the firms on Friday, the fresh data that support the bivalent vaccination will be presented to regulatory authorities with the expectation that the injection would be accessible later on this year.
The initial COVID vaccine that was developed by Sanofi and GSK is now being evaluated by the European Medicines Agency.
Because Beta expresses similar mutations across multiple variants of concern, including Omicron, the companies have placed their bets on the fact that this bivalent vaccine, which was moulded on the now-superseded Beta variant, will confer broad protection against future viral strains. The reasoning behind this bet is that Beta expresses similar mutations across multiple variants of concern.