Medicago and GlaxoSmithKline’s COVIFENZ®, a tobacco plant-based vaccine to prevent COVID-19 has been approved by Health Canada, according to a Medicago press release.

According to the company, the vaccine is indicated for active immunization to COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV2) in individuals aged 18 to 64. Health Canada has now given its approval for the vaccine based on scientific data provided by Medicago since April 2021. As the Marketing Authorization Holder, Medicago has a contract with the Canadian government to supply the vaccine, states the press release.
“The approval of our COVID-19 vaccine is a significant milestone for Canada in the fight against the pandemic. We appreciate Health Canada’s timely review,” said Takashi Nagao, President and CEO at Medicago. “We’re also grateful for the Government of Canada’s support in the development of this new vaccine, and we are manufacturing doses to start fulfilling its order.”
Roger Connor, President of GSK Vaccines, added, “This first approval is an important milestone in our approach of pairing GSK’s well-established pandemic adjuvant with promising antigens to develop protein-based, refrigerator-stable COVID-19 vaccines to help protect people against COVID-19 disease. We look forward to working with Medicago to make the vaccine available in Canada and to progress further regulatory submissions.”