TORONTO —
The Canadian company behind a new plant-derived COVID-19 vaccine candidate has released the results of their Phase 1 clinical trials, saying two doses of their adjuvanted vaccine spurred a significant antibody response in 100 per cent of the trial subjects.
“They’re even better than we had hoped,” Nathalie Landry, executive vice president of scientific and medical affairs at Medicago, said of the results.
“When we talk about neutralizing antibody responses, we say it’s quite remarkable, especially when we compare with a subject that recovered from the disease.”
Those who received the Medicago adjuvanted vaccine in the Phase 1 trial actually had higher antibody levels than the levels found in those who had contracted COVID-19, Landry told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.
Medicago, a company based in Quebec, launched their first human trials in July.
In Phase 1, they looked at around 180 healthy subjects between the ages of 18 and 55. Participants were given either the vaccine on its own, or the vaccine with one of two adjuvants mixed in: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)’s pandemic adjuvant or Dynavax’s CpG 1018.
An adjuvant is a substance that is added to vaccines in order to boost the effects and enable a higher immune response. They can be made from a variety of materials, including plants, aluminum and squalene oil, derived largely from sharks. Researchers wanted to measure what difference adding each adjuvant would make for the immune response.
They found that the vaccine candidate on its own did produce antibodies in the subjects, but demanded a much higher dosage level in order to get proper results.
It was the adjuvanted vaccines that really had an effect.
After two doses of adjuvanted vaccine — no matter which adjuvant was used — the antibody response rose significantly. However, subjects developed anti-spike IgG antibodies after a single dose of the vaccine when mixed with the GSK adjuvant, according to the press release.
“[GSK’s was] the adjuvant that provided us with the best immune response at [a] very low dose,” Landry said.
She explained that although they tested three doses at 3.75, 7.5 and 15 micrograms, the antibody response did not increase as the dosage went up.
“We only need 3.75 micrograms to get to a very significant level of antibody and cellular immune responses,” she said.
Being able to spur an immune response at a lower dose means they would be able to manufacture more of the vaccine — if it clears the rest of the phases.
In October, the company announced that they had reached an agreement with the federal government to supply Canada with up to 76 million doses of their vaccine, subject to approval from Health Canada.
The success of the GSK adjuvant means that moving forward, Medicago will be using only their vaccine candidate mixed with GSK’s pandemic adjuvant in further trials.
This phase also proved the safety of the vaccine candidate to proceed to further trials, as no subjects had any severe adverse side-effects, only mild and short-lived side-effects, according to the release.
HOW PLANTS PLAY INTO VACCINE DEVELOPMENT
Medicago’s vaccine candidate is different from many of the others currently in human trials in that it uses “coronavirus virus-like particles” (CoVLP), which mimic the virus to spur an immune response without introducing any form of the actual virus to the human body.
“In general, when developing a vaccine for COVID, you’re looking for two things,” Landry said. “You’re looking for neutralizing antibody responses, and cellular immune responses.”
Their adjuvanted vaccine can trigger both of these, she said.
In order to make their vaccine, Medicago uses plants as, essentially, living factories to produce the antigen in the vaccine that spurs an immune response. This is achieved through recombinant technology: genetic code is transferred to a plant, at which point “the plant will start expressing that antigen like if it was its own,” according to Landry.
The plant they use is called nicotiana benthamiana, a relative of tobacco plants, which grows quickly and can “produce a huge amount of proteins,” she said, making it a prime host for biopharmaceuticals.
“This is 20 years of development, that is behind this innovative manufacturing technology,” Landry said. “And this is something that has been developed in Canada.”
NEXT STEPS
In Phase 2, they will be studying more subjects, as well as those in other age groups not included in the first trial. It will involve around 600 subjects, between the ages of 18 and 64.
“We also evaluate elderly people, make sure that we actually took the right dose, and we have a group safety and immunogenicity profile,” Landry said.
In the final phase of the clinical trials, Medicago hopes to enrol around 30,000 subjects in different regions across the globe.
“Why we need to go global is that to prove the efficacy of the vaccine, you need to go in regions where the virus is circulating,” she explained.
She said they’re on track with their trials so far in terms of timeline. Medicago is aiming to launch Phase 2 soon, pending approval. According to Landry, we could hear the early results from that clinical trial in early 2021, around the same time that they are aiming to launch Phase 3 of the trials.
Phase 3 is when the efficacy of the vaccine really gets tested, she said, so while the results from Phase 1 are promising, and support further trials, they don’t know yet if the vaccine will actively prevent transmission of the virus.
“But that’s the idea,” she said. “You have a high level of antibodies that can neutralize the virus, so you will prevent infection and therefore, hopefully transmission of the virus as well.”
Human Resources Officers must be very busy these days what with the general turnover of employees in our retail and business sectors. It is hard enough to find skilled people let alone potential employees willing to be trained. Then after the training, a few weeks go by then they come to you and ask for a raise. You refuse as there simply is no excess money in the budget and away they fly to wherever they come from, trained but not willing to put in the time to achieve that wanted raise.
I have had potentials come in and we give them a test to see if they do indeed know how to weld, polish or work with wood. 2-10 we hire, and one of those is gone in a week or two. Ask that they want overtime, and their laughter leaving the building is loud and unsettling. Housing starts are doing well but way behind because those trades needed to finish a project simply don’t come to the site, with delay after delay. Some people’s attitudes are just too funny. A recent graduate from a Ivy League university came in for an interview. The position was mid-management potential, but when we told them a three month period was needed and then they would make the big bucks they disappeared as fast as they arrived.
Government agencies are really no help, sending us people unsuited or unwilling to carry out the jobs we offer. Handing money over to staffing firms whose referrals are weak and ineffectual. Perhaps with the Fall and Winter upon us, these folks will have to find work and stop playing on the golf course or cottaging away. Tried to hire new arrivals in Canada but it is truly difficult to find someone who has a real identity card and is approved to live and work here. Who do we hire? Several years ago my father’s firm was rocking and rolling with all sorts of work. It was a summer day when the immigration officers arrived and 30+ employees hit the bricks almost immediately. The investigation that followed had threats of fines thrown at us by the officials. Good thing we kept excellent records, photos and digital copies. We had to prove the illegal documents given to us were as good as the real McCoy.
Restauranteurs, builders, manufacturers, finishers, trades-based firms, and warehousing are all suspect in hiring illegals, yet that becomes secondary as Toronto increases its minimum wage again bringing our payroll up another $120,000. Survival in Canada’s financial and business sectors is questionable for many. Good luck Chuck!. at least your carbon tax refund check should be arriving soon.
NORMAN WELLS, N.W.T. – Imperial Oil says it will temporarily reduce its fuel prices in a Northwest Territories community that has seen costs skyrocket due to low water on the Mackenzie River forcing the cancellation of the summer barge resupply season.
Imperial says in a Facebook post it will cut the air transportation portion that’s included in its wholesale price in Norman Wells for diesel fuel, or heating oil, from $3.38 per litre to $1.69 per litre, starting Tuesday.
The air transportation increase, it further states, will be implemented over a longer period.
It says Imperial is closely monitoring how much fuel needs to be airlifted to the Norman Wells area to prevent runouts until the winter road season begins and supplies can be replenished.
Gasoline and heating fuel prices approached $5 a litre at the start of this month.
Norman Wells’ town council declared a local emergency on humanitarian grounds last week as some of its 700 residents said they were facing monthly fuel bills coming to more than $5,000.
“The wholesale price increase that Imperial has applied is strictly to cover the air transportation costs. There is no Imperial profit margin included on the wholesale price. Imperial does not set prices at the retail level,” Imperial’s statement on Monday said.
The statement further said Imperial is working closely with the Northwest Territories government on ways to help residents in the near term.
“Imperial Oil’s decision to lower the price of home heating fuel offers immediate relief to residents facing financial pressures. This step reflects a swift response by Imperial Oil to discussions with the GNWT and will help ease short-term financial burdens on residents,” Caroline Wawzonek, Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance and Infrastructure, said in a news release Monday.
Wawzonek also noted the Territories government has supported the community with implementation of a fund supporting businesses and communities impacted by barge cancellations. She said there have also been increases to the Senior Home Heating Subsidy in Norman Wells, and continued support for heating costs for eligible Income Assistance recipients.
Additionally, she said the government has donated $150,000 to the Norman Wells food bank.
In its declaration of a state of emergency, the town said the mayor and council recognized the recent hike in fuel prices has strained household budgets, raised transportation costs, and affected local businesses.
It added that for the next three months, water and sewer service fees will be waived for all residents and businesses.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
TORONTO – A new report says many Canadian business leaders are worried about economic uncertainties related to the looming U.S. election.
The survey by KPMG in Canada of 735 small- and medium-sized businesses says 87 per cent fear the Canadian economy could become “collateral damage” from American protectionist policies that lead to less favourable trade deals and increased tariffs
It says that due to those concerns, 85 per cent of business leaders in Canada polled are reviewing their business strategies to prepare for a change in leadership.
The concerns are primarily being felt by larger Canadian companies and sectors that are highly integrated with the U.S. economy, such as manufacturing, automotive, transportation and warehousing, energy and natural resources, as well as technology, media and telecommunications.
Shaira Nanji, a KPMG Law partner in its tax practice, says the prospect of further changes to economic and trade policies in the U.S. means some Canadian firms will need to look for ways to mitigate added costs and take advantage of potential trade relief provisions to remain competitive.
Both presidential candidates have campaigned on protectionist policies that could cause uncertainty for Canadian trade, and whoever takes the White House will be in charge during the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2026.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
