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Sanofi, GSK COVID vaccine shows strong immune response in phase 2 trials

17 May 2021
Dan Ackermann

Sanofi and GSK announcedthis morning their COVID-19 vaccine candidate demonstrated a strong immune response in adults in a phase 2 clinical trial.

Why it matters: Sanofi and GSK say their recombinant protein-based vaccine candidate could ultimately serve as a universal COVID-19 vaccine booster, able to boost immunity regardless of the vaccination first received.

Details: Sanofi and GSK said the vaccine triggered an antibody response in 95% to 100% of all the trial participants, ages 18 to 95, who got the vaccine.

  • The companies also observed a "high immune response after a single dose in patients" who previously recovered from COVID-19, which shows the vaccine has strong booster potential.
  • It's a promising development after the companies had to delay their vaccine in December to improve immune response in older adults. Still, it's also important to point out this is a phase 2 clinical trial, a relatively small study with 722 volunteers in the U.S. and Honduras.

A global Phase 3 trial with more than 35,000 participants from various countries is expected to start in the coming weeks to test the efficacy of two vaccine formulations against variants, officials said.

  • In parallel, the companies also plan to conduct booster studies.
  • Should the candidate prove successful in clearing Phase 3 testing and other regulatory hurdles, officials said a vaccine could be approved by the end of 2021.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.