Human clinical trials begin for coronavirus vaccine made in Quebec

The biopharmaceutical company Medicago is set to begin the first phase of trials in testing a plant-based product on 180 healthy men and women, aged 18 to 55.

The study does not use animals products of any kind or live viruses, as the traditional methods do.

Dr. Bruce Clark, president and CEO of Medicago, has emphasized that people should not expect the potential vaccine to bring the pandemic to a screeching halt.

“Whatever vaccine we get in this first round—unless it's a miracle—it's not going to be perfect,” Clark said.

“It's going to have to undergo development, it's going to take probably years to come up with an understanding of the right vaccine, the right approach. It's not the panacea."

“To assume that we can have, in 18 months, the solution to a pandemic that comes around once in a generation, is naive.”

Clark added that his team decided to go with plant-based hosts instead of animal hosts because it is significantly faster, adding that going with the plant-based option is also more consistent.

“In a pandemic, something like COVID, if you're able to cut that much time off development, you have a substantial impact on public health.”

He added that the virus-like particles that would mimic the shape and dimension of the virus will hopefully allow the body to recognize them as a threat, sparking an immune response.

Clark said that viruses have a tendency to mutate as they grow and adapt, which would make it likely that the first viable vaccine for COVID-19 would not be an exact match to the virus.

He hopes to find the effectiveness of the potential vaccine by October before kicking off a more targeted trial phase that would be comprised of about 1,000 participants.

The ideal third phase of the trial would involve about 15,000 to 20,000 people, which could turn into a global study.

There is also an uncertainty of the virus when it comes to distribution, as Medicago's commercial plant is located in North Carolina. This would not guarantee that Canadians would have access to the vaccine should it become available.

“'Guarantee' is a strong word,” Clark said. “Strange things happen to borders in the context of a pandemic.”

“Certainly, we need a facility in Canada,” Clark added.

“There's no guarantee on the easy flow of materials back and forth across the border should we have a successful vaccine. We have to keep the focus on completing the Canadian facility so that we have domestic capacity. I think this is what most countries are concerned about.”

Assuming the trials are successful, Medicago estimates that it will be able to make around 100 million doses by the end of 2021.

Clark mentioned that countries that have a proclivity for nationalist agendas must stifle those ideas in the global fight against the pandemic.

“There has to be some ability to share those around and distribute, whether that's through an entity like the WHO, or something equivalent.”

Meeting the significant demand for the vaccine will require several manufacturers, multiple methods of distribution, and a substantial amount of cooperation, Clark said.

He mentioned that the World Health Organization may even be able to play a role.