WASHINGTON — On the eve of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine entering America’s arsenal against the pandemic, the George Washington University announced Wednesday it began urgent clinical trials of a vaccine candidate offering similar advantages.
The Sanofi-GlaxoSmithKline shot currently in Phase 2 testing can be stored in a common refrigerator and is produced through a more traditional approach than the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
The university issued a call for District-area residents to enroll in the trial, adding that with a multitude of data already known about COVID-19 antibody response, no placebos will be used.
All volunteers will receive two doses of the vaccine, yet randomized individuals will receive higher and lower amounts of the vaccine.
“The control group is really going to be the lowest dose,” said Dr. David Diemert, principal investigator of GW’s Sanofi vaccine trial.
“We're testing three different doses of the vaccine, so the middle dose and the higher dose will be compared to the low dose.”
To sign up for the GW Sanofi vaccine trial, click here.
After data in December indicated Sanofi’s first iteration of the vaccine spurred less of an immune response in older people than in younger volunteers, the pharmaceutical company adjusted its approach and delayed its release timetable.
With a more favorable outcome in 2021 trials, the Sanofi vaccine could add to a limited global supply by October of this year, the university said.
“We need as many types of vaccines, as many doses, as we can possibly get,” Diemert said. “The more we have, the faster we can get the world vaccinated.”
The university plans to recruit 40 volunteers, with six already vaccinated on the first day of the trial. Half of the participants will be over age 60 and must be at least 18-years-old.