Sanofi, GSK post 58% efficacy in omicron-affected COVID-19 vaccine trial, teeing up race to regulators
Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline are nearly ready to seek approval for their COVID-19 vaccine. After suffering a delay late in 2020, the partners have linked two doses of the protein vaccine to 58% protection from symptomatic COVID-19 in a variant-affected phase 3 clinical trial.
The efficacy figure is well down on the 90%-plus protection rates achieved by the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, but that cross-trial comparison has little value given the changes in the SARS-CoV-2 virus between the studies. The mRNA vaccine trials took place before the spread of variants of concern. The Sanofi-GSK trial covered a period in which the delta and omicron variants were prevalent.
“No other global phase 3 efficacy study has been undertaken during this period with so many variants of concern, including omicron, and these efficacy data are similar to the recent clinical data from authorized vaccines,” Thomas Triomphe, executive vice president at Sanofi Vaccines, said in a statement.
Feb 24, 2022
