GLAXOSMITHKLINE, SANOFI PASTEUR VACCINE DELAYED UNTIL LATE 2021

British and French pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur said the release of their coronavirus vaccine will be delayed until late 2021 after interim results showed “insufficient immune response” among the elderly.

“Insufficient response in older adults demonstrates the need to refine the concentration of antigen in order to provide high-level immune response across all age groups,” Martin Goillandeau reported for CNN from London.

Thomas Triomphe, head of Sanofi Pasteur, said the companies were “disappointed by the delay announced today,” adding that they “have identified the path forward."

“No single pharma company can make it alone; the world needs more than one vaccine to fight the pandemic,” Triomphe said. Roger Connor, President of GSK Vaccines added: “The results of the study are not as we hoped, and that it was now “clear that multiple vaccines will be needed to contain the pandemic.” The two companies said they are now planning a new phase 2b study with an improved antigen formulation in February of next year, which could be followed by a global phase 3 study potentially starting in the second quarter of 2021. The phase 3 studies were initially expected to start this month.