Canada to use world’s first plant-based Covid vaccine

The two-dose inoculation can be given to adults between the ages of 18 and 64

Covifenz was manufactured by biopharma company Medicago and GlaxoSmithKline. Getty Images

Canadian regulators on Thursday announced that the country will use the world’s first plant-derived Covid-19 vaccine.

The vaccine, named Covifenz, was jointly developed by Medicago, a biopharma company owned by Mitsubishi Chemical and Philip Morris, based in Quebec City, and GlaxoSmithKline.

The two-dose vaccine can be given to adults between 18 and 64 years old.

The Quebec-based privately held company has an agreement to supply up to 76 million doses to the Canadian government.

“We're at a stage where we're ramping up capacity to meet the supply agreement,” said Marc-Andre D’Aoust, Medicago's executive vice president of innovation, development and medical affairs.

Medicago said it was committed to fulfilling the order as soon as possible.

The decision was based on a study of 24,000 adults that found the vaccine was 71 per cent effective at preventing Covid-19.

Side effects were mild and included fever and fatigue.

The study was conducted before the Omicron variant emerged.

Medicago uses plants as living factories to grow virus-like particles, which copy the spike protein that coats the coronavirus. The particles are removed from the plants’ leaves and then purified.

An immune-boosting chemical called an adjuvant, made by British partner GlaxoSmithKline, is then added to the shots.

Medicago plans to test the shot in children and as a booster dose for adults, Mr D’Aoust said.

The immunisation was granted fast-track designation by the US Food and Drug Administration in February last year.

The Canadian government on Thursday announced it was lifting the emergency powers it enacted more than a week ago to bring street protests under control, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying the authority is no longer needed.

The protests were initially against Canada’s Covid-19 vaccination requirements for lorry drivers transporting goods across the US border, before they expanded into a campaign against the country's broader coronavirus restrictions.

Agencies contributed to this report.