A Canadian biotech firm is reporting positive results from a large study of its COVID-19 vaccine. What makes it unusual is that the key ingredient of the vaccine is grown in plants. Medicago has already developed an experimental flu vaccine in Nicotiana benthamian, a plant related to tobacco. When the pandemic struck, the company decided to try to make a COVID-19 vaccine.
Now it appears those efforts have succeeded. “This is an incredible moment for Medicago and for novel vaccine platforms,” Medicago CEO and President Takashi Nagao said in a statement.
A COVID-19 vaccine from a Canadian biotech firm has been found effective at preventing moderate to severe disease. It could soon become the first plant-based vaccine authorized for human use.