Sanofi announces clinical trial of second Covid-19 vaccine candidate

The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi and the US based Translate Bio have announced the launch of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for their second vaccine candidate against Covid-19.  

Sanofi will begin Phase 1/2 trial of its vaccine candidate. AFP - JOEL SAGET

“Our mRNA vaccine candidate is the result of our expertise in infectious diseases coupled with the innovative technologies of our partner,” said Thomas Triomphe, executive vice-president and global head of Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines global business unit of Sanofi. 

“Initiating the Phase 1/2 trial represents an important step forward in our goal of bringing another effective vaccine to the ongoing fight against the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

The Phase 1/2 clinical trial is randomised, double blind and placebo-controlled designed to evaluate its safety, tolerability and immune response.

Today we announce the start of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for our #COVID19 mRNA vaccine candidate developed in partnership with @TranslateBio. This is an important step forward in helping protect people across the globe. https://t.co/vyL4vTd0Ta#SanofiActs pic.twitter.com/rdKuPI6pP1

— Sanofi (@sanofi) March 12, 2021

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A total of 415 healthy adults 18 years of age and older are expected to be enrolled in the trial across 13 investigational sites. Clinical trial participants will receive one dose of the vaccine candidate, or two doses 21 days apart.

In a press release, Translate Bio said that the two companies expect interim results from this trial in the third quarter of this year.

It added: "Pre-clinical studies will continue over the next several months to evaluate whether the vaccine candidate can induce neutralising antibodies against the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants."

It is the second vaccine developed by Sanofi against the coronavirus.

An earlier candidate, developed with Britain's GSK, is recombinant protein-based, but its development is several months behind schedule and testing is only in phase 2, with hopes to launch it in late 2021.

Sanofi has also agreed to help produce Covid vaccines developed by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

(with newswires)