Valneva’s COVID-19 Jab Elicits Better Immunity Than AstraZeneca’s in Clinical Trial

Valneva said its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, VLA2001, induced higher levels of neutralizing antibodies in adults 30 years and older than AstraZeneca’s shot in a phase 3, head-to-head trial.

The French drugmaker also said VLA2001, an inactivated adjuvanted vaccine, also demonstrated noninferiority to AZD1222 in seroconversion rates, the rates at which certain antibodies develop in the blood serum following infection. The late-stage trial enrolled more than 4,000 adult participants across 26 UK sites.

“The low levels of reactogenicity and high functional antibody responses alongside broad T-cell responses … are both impressive and extremely encouraging,” said Adam Finn, professor of pediatrics at the UK’s University of Bristol and the trial’s principal investigator.

AZD1222, which is not authorized in the U.S., is currently approved for use in the UK and EU, while Valneva is not yet approved for use anywhere.