Bavarian Nordic has announced that it will no longer be moving forward with its COVID-19 booster programme.
Following results from its phase 3 trial and despite hitting its primary endpoint, the booster showed that it was not as effective against new variants of SARS-CoV-2.
The results showed that the capsid virus-like particle (cVLP)-based booster, known as ABNCoV2, lowered levels of neutralising antibodies against the original SARS-CoV-2 variant.
However, ABNCoV2’s ability to neutralise antibodies against the circulating Omicron variant, XBB.1.5, was significantly lower than the original version of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Comirnaty. The data showed that 64% of people had detectable antibodies from Bavarian’s vaccine, compared to 85% from Comirnaty.
Bavarian said that even if the booster was non-inferior to participants who were vaccinated with Comirnaty, it would be for a variant that is “no longer the primary concern”.
“ABNCoV2 cannot be readily adapted within the seasonal timeframe and as such, ABNCoV2 no longer represents a commercial opportunity for Bavarian Nordic,” it said.
The company has confirmed that there will be a six-month follow-up analysis and that safety data will be collected for another six months.
Along with that, the company plans to discuss with the US Food and Drug Administration how best to use what it has learnt in the trial for future pandemics using cVLP-based vaccines.
cVLPs trigger the body’s immune response by binding to lymphocyte cells and making them think the body is infected without involving an actual foreign virus.
Bavarian’s president and chief executive officer, Paul Chaplin, said: “We have generated robust data, so far demonstrating a favourable safety profile for the vaccine along with the ability to induce a strong and persistent immune response against earlier and more virulent strains, confirming the viability of the cVLP platform.”
In June, the US Food and Drug Administration’s advisory committee advised that updated COVID-19 vaccines be developed to target the currently circulating XBB variants.
Most recently, Pfizer and BioNTech’s Cominarty XXB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine received approval from the European Commission for adults, children and infants aged over six months. The partners have also filed an application with the FDA for use of the updated vaccine in individuals aged six months and older.