Medicago Begins Phase I Clinical Trials for its COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate
14.7.2020 15:00:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Medicago, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Quebec City, began Phase I clinical trials for its plant-derived COVID-19 vaccine candidate yesterday, administering the first doses in healthy human volunteers. Medicago is also planning a Phase 2/3 trial to be initiated this October.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200714005585/en/
Vial of a vaccine candidate. (Photo: Business Wire)
“We are thrilled to see our COVID-19 vaccine candidate enter the Phase 1 trial, and we look forward to obtaining safety and immunogenicity results in October,” said Nathalie Landry, Executive Vice-President, Scientific and Medical Affairs at Medicago. “Our progress continues to demonstrate the value of Medicago’s unique plant-based vaccine technology.”
The Phase I clinical trial is a randomized, partially blinded study of 180 normal healthy subjects, male and female aged 18-55, and will evaluate dosages of 3.75, 7.5 or 15 micrograms of the recombinant Coronavirus Virus-Like Particle (CoVLP) vaccine candidate alone or with an adjuvant in a prime-boost regimen. Medicago will be testing its vaccine candidate with two adjuvants separately – GSK’s proprietary pandemic adjuvant technology and Dynavax’s CpG 1018™. An adjuvant can be of particular importance in a pandemic situation as it may boost the immune response and reduce the amount of antigen required per dose, allowing more vaccine doses to be produced and therefore contributing to protect the greatest number of people.
Medicago’s innovative platform and plant-based manufacturing technology is helping to diversify the pool of COVID-19 vaccines in development.
“Creating a sufficient supply of COVID-19 vaccines within the next year is a challenge which will require multiple approaches, with different technologies,” said Dr. Bruce Clark, President and CEO of Medicago. “Our proven plant-based technology is capable of contributing to the collective solution to this public health emergency.”
Medicago expects to be able to manufacture approximately 100 million doses by the end of 2021. By the end of 2023, the construction of Medicago’s large-scale facility in Quebec City, Canada, will be completed. It is anticipated that this commercial facility will have the capacity to produce up to 1 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine annually.
Medicago is the only company with plant-based manufacturing technology that has completed Phase III clinical trials (with its quadrivalent VLP influenza vaccine candidate) and pandemic Phase II clinical trials (with its H1N1 pandemic vaccine candidate). The company’s first New Drug Submission for its seasonal recombinant quadrivalent VLP vaccine for active immunization against influenza in adults (18-64 years), is currently under review by Health Canada following the completion of a robust safety and efficacy clinical program in over 25,000 subjects.
In addition to its clinical development capabilities, Medicago has also demonstrated its capacity to produce a large amount of vaccines in a short period of time, with the production in 2012 of 10 million doses of monovalent pandemic influenza H1N1 vaccines in one month for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), part of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Medicago’s plant-based platform
The company uses a proprietary plant-based technology to develop vaccines and protein-based therapeutics. Unlike traditional vaccination development, Medicago does not use animal products or live viruses to create its products. Instead, it uses Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) that mimic the shape and dimensions of a virus, which allows the body to recognize them and create an immune response in a non-infectious way. Clinical trial data suggest that VLPs have a multi-modal mechanism of action that is different from that of inactivated vaccines, activating both arms of the immune system – antibody and cell-mediated responses.
Medicago’s proprietary technology is rapid, versatile, and scalable. As soon as the genetic sequence of a virus is made available, Medicago can develop a clinical-grade vaccine candidate in only a few weeks. Its recombinant technology allows the production of a vaccine that precisely matches the circulating strains, such as in the case of seasonal influenza. The technology is easily scalable, allowing the company to increase volume of production by simply increasing the number of plants it uses.
Facilities
Medicago is headquartered in Quebec City, Canada, and plans to produce COVID-19 vaccines in its manufacturing facility in Durham, North Carolina (USA) and in its Quebec pilot plant. A new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant is under construction in Quebec City, and is planned to have the capacity to deliver up to 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines annually.
About Medicago
Medicago is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Quebec City with productions sites in Quebec, Canada and Durham, North Carolina, USA. Medicago’s mission is to improve global health outcomes by leveraging innovative plant-based technologies for rapid responses to emerging global health challenges. Medicago is committed to advancing therapeutics against life-threatening diseases worldwide.
For more information: www.medicago.com
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200714005585/en/
Contact information
Media contact (English)
Alissa Von Bargen
+1-647-234-5975
Alissa.VonBargen@gcicanada.com
Media contact (French)
Marie-Pier Côté
+ 1-418-999-4847
mpcote@tactconseil.ca
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Kingswood Capital Management Raises $4 Billion Across Two Oversubscribed Middle-Market Funds30.7.2026 18:00:00 EEST | Press release
Kingswood Capital Management, L.P. (together with its affiliates, “Kingswood”), a Los Angeles-based investment firm focused on the middle-market, today announced the final closing of Kingswood Capital Opportunities Fund IV, L.P. (together with its parallel fund, “Fund IV”), with total capital commitments of $3.1 billion, as well as Kingswood Capital Opportunities Small Cap Fund I, L.P. (together with its parallel fund, “Small Cap Fund I”), with total capital commitments of $900 million. These funds more than double Kingswood’s total assets under management (“AUM”) to over $7 billion. Fund IV represents the fourth institutional fundraise in five years for Kingswood and is more than double the size of Fund III. Both Fund IV and the inaugural Small Cap Fund I were significantly oversubscribed in just five weeks. Fund IV exceeded its initial target of $2.25 billion, while Small Cap Fund I exceeded its initial target of $550 million and both closed at their hard caps. The successful fundrai
CyrusOne Names John Hatem Chief Executive Officer to Accelerate its Global Digital Infrastructure Strategy30.7.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
CyrusOne (the “Company”), a leading global data center owner, developer and operator, today announced the appointment of John Hatem as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Company’s Board, effective immediately. As part of the Company’s long-term succession planning, Eric Schwartz, who successfully led CyrusOne through a period of significant expansion, is stepping down as CEO and will work together with Hatem to ensure a smooth transition. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260730005910/en/ John Hatem Hatem joined CyrusOne in 2011 and has held a series of increasingly senior roles across the business. He most recently served as President, responsible for global sales, global procurement, and design, engineering, and construction in the United States. His deep experience in data center design, development, and operations has helped transform CyrusOne into one of the world’s leading digital infrastructure p
Mary Kay Releases 2026 Sustainability Report Highlighting Transformative Progress Across Social, Economic, and Environmental Impact Globally30.7.2026 15:03:00 EEST | Press release
Mary Kay Inc., a leading global beauty company committed to sustainability and women’s empowerment, today released its 2026 Sustainability Report, outlining progress toward its 2030 goals and celebrating the 2025 and latest achievements that continue to drive positive change globally. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260730240667/en/ Mary Kay's annual 2026 Sustainability Report highlights the company's decades-long dedication to social, economic, and environmental sustainability - core pillars central to its business strategy and its purpose-driven legacy rooted in Mary Kay's mission of “enriching women’s lives” around the world. (Image Credit: Mary Kay Inc.) The annual report highlights Mary Kay’s decades-long dedication to social, economic, and environmental sustainability - core pillars central to its business strategy and its purpose-driven legacy rooted in the company’s mission of “enriching women’s lives”
Veracode Launches “Veracode Marketplace”: A Curated Ecosystem of Elite Security Integrations Built for the AI-Powered Software Development Era30.7.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
Veracode, the global leader in application risk management, today announced the launch of the Veracode Marketplace, a curated ecosystem that gives customers a single, trusted destination to discover, evaluate, and deploy third-party security integrations as an extension of the Veracode platform. The marketplace debuts with DryRun Security as its inaugural partner, delivering AI-native contextual analysis and verification to Veracode customers on day one. A New Standard for the AppSec Ecosystem The Veracode Marketplace enables security and engineering teams to extend their existing Veracode investment with validated, best-in-class integrations. Every partner is vetted for technical depth, product quality, and workflow fit. Integrations are anchored to Veracode findings for a unified audit trail, and every purchase goes through a single procurement path on a single contract, with a personalized support experience. “Application security has entered a new era, and no single vendor will sol
INNIO Awarded EcoVadis Platinum Medal for Fifth Consecutive Year30.7.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
INNIO N.V. (Nasdaq: INIO) has been awarded the EcoVadis Platinum Medal, the highest recognition granted by the globally trusted provider of business sustainability ratings. This marks the fifth consecutive year that INNIO has achieved Platinum status since 2022. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260730309718/en/ INNIO N.V. Awarded EcoVadis Platinum Medal for Fifth Consecutive Year In the latest assessment cycle, INNIO further improved its overall EcoVadis score compared to the previous year by introducing additional policies and further strengthening its sustainability management system. “This recognition is a strong validation of our sustainability strategy,” said Marcin Kawa, Vice President Sustainability at INNIO. “Achieving EcoVadis Platinum status for the fifth consecutive year shows that we have consistently delivered on our sustainability commitments and embedded responsible business practices throughout
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom