In this photo illustration, the logo of the British multinational pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is displayed on a smartphone with a computer model of coronavirus COVID-19 in the background.
Budrul Chukrut | Images SOUP | Getty Images
Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline and France’s Sanofi said on Monday they had begun a new clinical trial of their protein-based Covid-19 vaccine candidate and aim to reach the final stage of testing in the second trimester.
If the results are conclusive, the two drug manufacturers hope to see the approved vaccine by the fourth quarter after initially targeting the first half of this year.
The move comes after drug makers in December said their vaccine would be delayed after clinical trials showed an insufficient immune response in the elderly.
The new study will aim to assess the safety, tolerability and immune response of the vaccine to 720 healthy adults in the United States, Honduras and Panama, the companies said.
Sanofi and the GSK candidate use the same recombinant protein technology as one of Sanofi’s seasonal flu vaccines. It will be coupled with an adjuvant, a substance that acts as a knock reminder, made by GSK.
The study will test two injections given 21 days apart.