Dr. Naresh Aggarwal spoke in April with Jennifer Bain, who volunteered for a Medicago COVID-19 vaccine study in Toronto.
Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images
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Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images
Dr. Naresh Aggarwal spoke in April with Jennifer Bain, who volunteered for a Medicago COVID-19 vaccine study in Toronto.
Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images
A Canadian biotech company is reporting positive results from a large study of their COVID-19 vaccine. What makes it so unusual is that the main component of the vaccine is grown from plants.
Medicago developed an experimental influenza vaccine in Nicotiana benthamian, a plant related to tobacco. When the pandemic hit, the company decided to try to produce a COVID-19 vaccine.
Now it looks like those efforts have been successful.
“This is an incredible moment for Medicago and for new vaccine platforms,” said Medicago CEO and President. Takashi Nagao said in a statement.
Vaccines work by showing the immune system something that looks like a virus, but isn’t. Doing that allows the immune system to prepare itself in case the virus actually shows up.
In the case of Medicago, the vaccine looks like something called a “viral seed” created in plant cells that have been genetically directed to make the coronavirus spike protein.
The new results come from a study of more than 24,000 volunteers in six different countries. Half were vaccinated, half were given a placebo. When the study reached about 165 cases of COVID-19 among the participants, it began to evaluate the results.
“We’ve been about 74%-78% effective at preventing moderate to severe disease,” Medicago health worker Brian Ward told NPR.
The vaccine had a slightly worse outcome, coming close to being nearly 70% effective, when considering all cases of COVID-19, including the milder ones.
The Medicago vaccine has been tested against variants
But there’s one important thing to keep in mind, according to Ward. The Medicago vaccine is based on a virus seed, the same as the original strain.
“All of the cases in this study were caused by these new variants,” he said.
Most cases are delta or gamma variation. Omicron was not yet at the scene when the study was conducted. Other vaccines are also less effective against the variants, Ward said.
As for side effects, Ward says, “most people get arm pain.” He said the sore arm could be caused by something called an adjuvant added to the vaccine to boost the immune response. The adjuvant that Medicago uses in vaccines is manufactured by GSK.
One thing vaccine researchers see very little of is the fever that sometimes accompanies other COVID-19 vaccine shots.
No need for a very cold freezer
One advantage of the new vaccine is that it doesn’t need a special freezer for storage. Standard refrigeration is adequate.
Medicago plans to ask Canadian regulators for permission to distribute its vaccine. In the meantime, they are getting supplies of the vaccine ready.
“We have commercial shipments packed into jars as we speak,” says Ward.
But production capacity is a problem. Currently, plants that produce virus seeds are being grown in North Carolina. Ward says he’s confident they’ll be able to deliver the 76 million doses they promised the Canadian government. And he said the company is building a new facility with a much larger capacity.
“And if we still have COVID issues by the end of 2023, our main global facility will be up and running in Quebec City,” said Ward.
Unfortunately, the world may actually still be stuck with COVID-19.
