Why didn’t they just partner with GNBT? I really don’t understand the relationship with this company…
The American company Merck acquired the Austrian firm Themis Bioscience in June to develop their vaccine, which had been originally developed at Institut Pasteur. The vaccine used a weakened measles virus that carries a gene for the coronavirus spike protein. Researchers launched a Phase 1 trial in August. On Jan. 25, Merck announced it was abandoning the effort, because the vaccine provoked a response that was weaker than a natural infection. In March they entered into a partnership with Johnson & Johnson to help produce their vaccine instead.
In addition to its project with Themis, Merck partnered with IAVI on a second viral vector vaccine. It was based on vesicular stomatitis viruses, the same approach Merck successfully used to produce the first approved vaccine for Ebola. They designed their coronavirus vaccine as a pill, which could have made it easier to distribute than syringes for injections. Merck and IAVI received $38 million from the United States government to support their research, and on September 30 they registered a Phase 1 trial. But on Jan. 25, they announced they were abandoning the effort because the vaccine failed to trigger an immune system comparable to what happens in a natural infection of Covid-19.
The American company Merck acquired the Austrian firm Themis Bioscience in June to develop their vaccine, which had been originally developed at Institut Pasteur. The vaccine used a weakened measles virus that carries a gene for the coronavirus spike protein. Researchers launched a Phase 1 trial in August. On Jan. 25, Merck announced it was abandoning the effort, because the vaccine provoked a response that was weaker than a natural infection. In March they entered into a partnership with Johnson & Johnson to help produce their vaccine instead.
In addition to its project with Themis, Merck partnered with IAVI on a second viral vector vaccine. It was based on vesicular stomatitis viruses, the same approach Merck successfully used to produce the first approved vaccine for Ebola. They designed their coronavirus vaccine as a pill, which could have made it easier to distribute than syringes for injections. Merck and IAVI received $38 million from the United States government to support their research, and on September 30 they registered a Phase 1 trial. But on Jan. 25, they announced they were abandoning the effort because the vaccine failed to trigger an immune system comparable to what happens in a natural infection of Covid-19.
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