Plant-based coronavirus vaccine shows 'positive efficacy and safety results,' developers say

[durablend]

https://www.abc27.com/news/health/coronavirus/plant-based-coronavirus-vaccine-shows-positive-efficacy-and-safety-results-developers-say/

(The Hill) – Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Tuesday announced positive results from a phase three trial of its plant-based coronavirus vaccine, the first inoculant of its kind to reach a stage to seek emergency approval.

The vaccine has an overall efficacy rate of 71% against all variants of the Sars-CoV-2 virus with the exception of omicron and is about 75% effective against the disease caused by the virus, COVID-19.

GSK partnered with Canadian biopharmaceutical company Medicago to develop the vaccine against the novel coronavirus. Medicago, which developed the vaccine with a GSK adjuvant, or additional substance to improve the vaccine, will immediately submit trial data and seek approval from Health Canada, the regulatory agency in the country. Filing processes for emergency approval have already been initiated in the U.S. and the U.K., GSK said in a press release.

“This is an incredible moment for Medicago and for novel vaccine platforms,” said Takashi Nagao, the president of Medicago, in a statement. “The results of our clinical trials show the power of plant-based vaccine manufacturing technology. If approved, we will be contributing to the world’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic with the world’s first plant-based vaccine for use in humans.”



So are the MAGAts going to start downing poison ivy to stick it to teh libs?

[Klaralven]

1. No, but they might start smoking it

In its vaccines, Medicago says it uses the plant species Nicotiana benthamiana, a close relative of the tobacco plant.

[dweller]

3. I remember early on when covid hit

There was some speculation that tobacco users were not getting covid …
Not much more was revealed why

✌🏻

[Budi]

2. I see why they selected this plant.

Think this article is from 2008

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18616398/

Nicotiana benthamiana: its history and future as a model for plant-pathogen interactions

Nicotiana benthamiana is the most widely used experimental host in plant virology, due mainly to the large number of diverse plant viruses that can successfully infect it.

Additionally, N. benthamiana is susceptible to a wide variety of other plant-pathogenic agents (such as bacteria, oomycetes, fungi, and so on), making this species a cornerstone of host-pathogen research, particularly in the context of innate immunity and defense signaling.

Moreover, because it can be genetically transformed and regenerated with good efficiency and is amenable to facile methods for virus-induced gene silencing or transient protein expression, N. benthamiana is rapidly gaining popularity in plant biology, particularly in studies requiring protein localization, interaction, or plant-based systems for protein expression and purification.
Paradoxically, despite being an indispensable research model, little is known about the origins, genetic variation, or ecology of the N. benthamiana accessions currently used by the research community.
Good read..MORE..