Launch of three vaccine clinical trials in France
Following the request of the Ministry of Solidarity and Health and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, France “ is organized to contribute to the evaluation of the most promising candidate vaccines against Covid-19 via Inserm’s COVIREIVAC platform »As explained in the Inserm press release published this Wednesday, December 2, 2020. Selected after the opinion of the Scientific Committee for Covid-19 vaccines, three clinical vaccine trials will therefore start in France from December 15 and subject to the agreement of regulatory authorities.
To date, there are more than 41,000 volunteers in total registered on the French vaccine testing platform COVIREIVAC. For the moment, a few thousand people will be called upon to launch these three clinical trials. The other individuals will be called later in future studies.
Phase 3 for Janssen and AstraZeneca / Oxford clinical trials
The first two French vaccine clinical trials are scheduled for mid-December. Professor Odile Launay, coordinator of the COVIREIVAC vaccine platform explains “ We were approached by Janssen Laboratories. France is expected to participate with around 1,000 participants and the start is scheduled for mid-December. The second test, in which France will participate, again with around 1,000 participants, is a test with AstraZeneca. And again, it’s two injections a month apart “.
The tests of the Janssen laboratory (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) and those of the firm AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford are both in phase 3, the most advanced phase before marketing. This step should make it possible to verify the efficacy and tolerance of the vaccine in humans.
Phase 2 for the Moderna clinical trial
The third vaccine trial, which will be launched in late December or early January in France, concerns the vaccine developed by the American Moderna. Currently in phase 3 in the United States and tested on 30,000 Americans, the vaccine has already been the subject of an authorization request from the European Union. France plans for its phase 2, to test the vaccine on 180 volunteers including 120 individuals over the age of 70. The objective will be to study the reaction of the immune system, particularly in the elderly.
According to Professor Jean-Daniel Lelièvre, head of the infectious diseases department at Henri-Mondor hospital in Créteil: “ Why the elderly? Because age is the major risk factor for the severe form of Covid-19. And secondly, because we know that with age, the immune response is generally poorer. The study in these particular populations is more than relevant “.
