The inactivated vaccine could then be available in the second half of April, as company representatives said on Wednesday. The vaccine, which was largely developed in Vienna, will hopefully convince more people that vaccination “is the right way,” said Peter Hanke (SPÖ), City Councilor for Economic Affairs.Vienna/Lyon. In view of the continued very high number of infections, one should not lose sight of the Covid 19 pandemic, Hanke told journalists. The offer with the vaccine, which is based on a long-tested and established technology based on whole inactivated SARS-CoV-2 pathogens, is part of the now quite comprehensive range of vaccines. In view of this, the city council sees it “with a lack of understanding” that the federal government is now suspending the obligation to vaccinate. After all, the law was only recently passed. Counteracting this with “short-term rush-ups” is difficult to understand. After all, the burdens in the health system are still high.
In any case, the Valneva vaccine shows that Vienna is “at the forefront of research” in the field of life sciences and how central research and development (R&D) is to overcoming the pandemic, Hanke said during a company visit. Valneva has the largest of its international locations in Vienna. Of the approximately 250 employees in the federal capital, more than 200 are involved in R&D, explained Valneva CFO Peter Bühler.
Valneva’s approach has been tried and tested for many decades
VLA2001 is the “only whole-virus vaccine candidate under development in Europe.” Valneva follows an approach that has been tried and tested for many decades. All of the dead virus is presented to the body. Thus, the immune system has to deal with all parts of the pathogen. Production takes place in Scotland and Sweden, but most of the development work is done in Vienna.
One is now in the “final discussions” with the EMA, in the Gulf state of Bahrain the vaccine has recently received emergency approval. The pivotal phase III study data have been available since October 2021. The Valneva vaccine was given in two doses four weeks apart. A comparison was made with the active substance in AstraZeneca (AZD1222) in adults over 30 years of age. The titer of the neutralizing antibodies was therefore on average higher than that of the participants who received AZD1222, it said after the end of the study with over 4,600 participants.
The company’s COVID-19 program director, Olivier Jankowitsch, said the company is now “on the home stretch” in terms of approval. The approval holder will be Valneva Austria, which will also “be prominent on the package”. For the traditional approach used, one is “extremely fast” on the road. It was only recently that the EMA was able to answer further questions as part of the so-called rolling approval process. If there is a positive decision soon, you have a vaccine offer based on “proven technology” in the quiver that could also convince people who are not satisfied with the existing options.
Similar to a flu vaccine, VLA2001 can also be adapted to new variants – albeit perhaps a little more slowly than mRNA vaccines. How well it is suitable as a booster after the administration of other vaccines is still being tested in studies, explained Jankowitsch. Laboratory tests have shown that the built-up immune protection effectively neutralizes the omicron and delta variants.
Source: Nachrichten
