Denmark's Bavarian Nordic set to compete with Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster

The impending Phase III test for ABNCoV2 designed by Bavarian Nordic, a biotech firm based in Denmark, was revised to contest with the mRNA vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech.

The firm is entering the competition rife COVID-19 market, where it will compete with some of the notable industry leaders.

The Phase III study is set to recruit approximately four thousand participants. BioNTech and Pfizer's Comirnaty, which was permitted as a booster shot for emergency administration in September 2021, will now be used as a control. 

The trial's strategy will be modified in order to permit Bavarian Nordic to execute a controlled and dual-blind side-by-side analysis of both vaccines. The firm plans to show that ABNCoV2 stimulates an antibody reaction that is comparable to those produced by the authorized vaccine.

The study will include two subdivisions that operate in tandem. The first group of one thousand individuals will be haphazardly allotted to get a single shot of Comirnaty or ABNCoV2 to evaluate their effectiveness.

Furthermore, the second batch will evaluate ABNCoV2's safeness and tolerance in three thousand additional patients that will be given one shot of Bavarian Nordic's prospect. Adults that have been vaccinated completely with one booster shot are permitted to enroll.

The remodeling was achievable via regulatory authorities and vaccine producers, according to Bavarian Nordic. Notwithstanding hesitations in signups, the firm feelsthat the general production schedule for ABNCoV2 has stayed the same, with the first findings expected later this year.

"We're excited to be capable of conducting the Phase III test of ABNCoV2 as a dual-blind, controlled investigation, which gives us a more stable footing for getting a license," says the president and CEO of Bavarian Nordic, Paul Chaplin.

“We think ABNCoV2 may furnish us with numerous advantages beyond what is currently obtainable with permitted Covid vaccines and anticipate beginning the analysis and showing the first Phase III details for this worldwide booster vaccine prospect before the year runs out,” they said.

The difference between ABNCoV2 and Comirnaty by Pfizer-BioNTech which is based on mRNA, is that the former makes use of a capsid that resembles that of a virus. The capsid was first developed by another Denmark-based firm AdaptVac. ABNCoV2's antibody response has been progressively outstanding beginning from the test before clinical tests. 

Bavarian Nordic's smallpox shots have drawn awareness lately, after sealing high-profile contracts with nations in need of it to combat monkeypox.

All the Covid-19 vaccines monopolizing the market at the moment are all based on mRNA including Spikevax from Moderna and Comirnaty from Pfizer and BioNTech. They have been recently endorsed by U.S. FDA for use in youngsters.