Sanofi-GSK next-generation COVID-19 booster delivers strong immune response against variants of concern, including Omicron.
Sanofi reports data from two trials, VAT02 Cohort 2 and COVIBOOST VAT013, conducted with its new next-generation COVID-19 booster vaccine candidate modelled on the Beta variant antigen and including GSK’s pandemic adjuvant.
In the Phase III VAT02 Cohort 2 study, the Sanofi-GSK next-generation vaccine candidate induced (at day 15 post-immunization) a significant boost in antibody titers above baseline against multiple variants of concern (15-fold increase against D614 parent virus, 30-fold increase against Beta strain) in adults previously primed with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. In particular against Omicron, preliminary data show a 40-fold increase against BA.1. The Sanofi-GSK next-generation booster candidate generated double the number of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 compared to the D614-based (original parent virus) booster.
In parallel, the independent COVIBOOST (VAT013) study conducted by the Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) demonstrated that, following primary vaccination with two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty vaccine, the Sanofi-GSK next-generation booster candidate generated a higher immune response (as measured by neutralizing antibody titers) than Pfizer-BioNTech’s booster or the Sanofi-GSK first-generation booster, both of which target the original D614 parent strain. The proportion of participants with at least a 10-fold increase in neutralizing antibody titers for the original D614 SARS-CoV-2 strain between day 0 and day 15 was: i.76.1% (95% CI 64.5–85.4) for the Sanofi-GSK next-generation booster, vs 63.2% (95% CI 51.3–73.9) for the Pfizer BioNTech D614 booster, and ii.55.3% (95% CI 43.4–66.7) for the Sanofi-GSK D614 (first-generation parent booster candidate).In this study, which included 247 subjects, all the three vaccines also elicited neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron BA.1 variant, with highest responses generated by the Sanofi-GSK next-generation candidate. Results of COVIBOOST study are available on a pre-print server, pending publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Across both studies, the Sanofi-GSK next-generation vaccine candidate was well-tolerated, with a favorable safety profile. In the VAT02 cohort 2 study, low numbers (less than 4%) of Grade 3 reactions were reported, all transient and non-severe.
See-Sanofi reports data from two trials, VAT02 Cohort 2 and COVIBOOST VAT013, conducted with its new next-generation COVID-19 booster vaccine candidate modelled on the Beta variant antigen and including GSK’s pandemic adjuvant.