Corona vaccine Valneva: high efficacy against delta variant

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Vaccine maker Valneva on Monday announced encouraging results from its U.K.-based Phase III trial of the Corona vaccine VLA2001.

It said the vaccine candidate led to the production of more neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus on average than did AstraZeneca’s comparator vaccine. VLA2001 was also “generally well tolerated,” according to a news release.

Valneva is taking a classical approach with its Covid-19 vaccine using inactivated viruses. This approach has been tried and tested for many decades. In this approach, the entire killed virus is presented to the body. Thus, the immune system has to deal with all parts of the pathogen. According to Valneva, this is the only such vaccine candidate in Europe.

The Phase III trial enrolled 4,012 adults and 660 adolescents. The Valneva vaccine was administered in two doses four weeks apart. In adults over 30 years of age, a comparison was made with AstraZeneca’s active ingredient (AZD1222). The titer of neutralizing antibodies was found to be on average higher than that of participants receiving AZD1222.

Immune cell (T-cell) responses were directed against different parts of the virus. The strongest response was to the spike protein of the pathogen. During the study, less than one percent of participants reported “an adverse event of special interest,” the company said. No severe case of covid-19 disease occurred, regardless of which vaccine the study participants received.

Vaccines prevent severe disease
That suggests that both vaccines prevent severe disease against the currently circulating viral variants – that is, primarily the delta variant, the company said. The study’s lead investigator, Adam Finn of the University of Bristol (UK), sees the “low reactogenicity and strong functional antibody response, as well as the broad T-cell responses” as “impressive and highly encouraging.”

For Valneva CEO Thomas Lingelbach, the results “confirm the benefits often associated with inactivated whole-virus vaccines.” He said work will continue to bring the vaccine candidate to regulatory approval as quickly as possible. In September, however, the company had said that the U.K. had terminated its contract to supply VLA2001.

But it “continues to believe that we can make an important contribution to the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lingelbach said. The company wants to offer “an alternative vaccine solution” to people who have not yet been vaccinated.

The active ingredient is currently undergoing a rolling review with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The company said it is also preparing for a similar submission to the European Medicines Agency (EMA).