• Medicago, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Quebec City, is pleased to report interim results of the Phase 1 clinical trial of its plant-derived vaccine for COVID-19.  The results of the trial demonstrated that 100 per cent of subjects developed a promising antibody response after two doses of Medicago’s COVID-19 adjuvanted vaccine candidate. Medicago is a biopharmaceutical company and pioneer in plant-derived therapeutics. Founded in 1999 with the belief that innovative approaches and rigorous research would bring new solutions in healthcare.

• Providence Therapeutics (Toronto): Similar to that of Pfizer and Moderna, this vaccine uses mRNA tech, which prompts the body to make proteins that can ward off the virus. 

• Entos Pharmaceuticals (Edmonton): A DNA-based vaccine that delivers genes from SARS-CoV-2 into the body, inducing a strong antibody response, as well as a potent, balanced T cell response.
• Immunoprecise Antibodies (Victoria): Pieces of viral protein are injected, teaching the immune system to recognize them; this technique is also being used by Novavax. 
• IMV (Halifax): Another protein-based vaccine using peptides, which are tiny pieces of protein that can be produced artificially.
• Mediphage Bioceuticals and the University of Waterloo (Toronto/Waterloo): Administered as a nasal spray, this candidate mimics the route of infection of SARS-CoV-2 and targets the right cells in the lungs and lower respiratory tract. 
• Symvivo (Burnaby): Another DNA solution that doesn’t require a needle, this medicine would be swallowed like the oral polio vaccine.
• Symvivo is a clinical-stage gene therapy company developing oral DNA vaccines for the treatment of life-threatening infectious diseases. In rapid response to the COVID-19 global health crisis, the company began research and development efforts leveraging its novel bacTRL Gene Therapy Program to study the protective potential of oral DNA vaccine candidate, bacTRL-Spike, for the prevention of COVID-19.

Source: Mars, Impact Week Publication. Barry Chong.

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