Medicago’s vaccine research is based on a plant that is a close relative of tobacco and has already reached phase 1 of the clinical trials, reports Bloomberg.

Canadian company Medicago Inc. has partnered with GlaxoSmithKline Plc. to further its experimental vaccine against COVID-19. Medicago is known for working with nicotiana benthamiana, a close relative of tobacco, to develop vaccines. The plant which has a weakened immune system easily hosts genetic material and develops particles that mimic a virus, according to Bloomberg. Glaxo develops adjuvants that can help boost any type of vaccine.
The vaccine trial will include 180 healthy patients aged 18 to 55 and will test different doses of the vaccine alone or paired with two different adjuvants. The first candidates have already received the vaccine, making Medicago one of 23 developers to have reached phase 1 of the clinical trials in the race to fight COVID-19, reports Bloomberg.
Providing the first trials are successful, Medicago aims to enter later-stage trials in October and could manufacture 100 million doses by the end of 2021.