Solution Group Berhad’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Solution Biologics Sdn Bhd announced that its CanSino’s single-dose Convidecia vaccine has been approved by the Ministry of Health for use as a heterologous booster.
A heterologous booster refers to a booster vaccination administered with a vaccine different from the previously administered vaccine. Convidecia is an adenovirus type-5 vector-based vaccine for COVID-19 while other vaccines available are mainly inactivated- or mRNA-type vaccines.
MOH, approved Convidecia for use as a heterologous booster shot for adults aged 18 and above who have completed their 2 doses of Sinovac vaccination at least 3 months.
Dato’ Dr. Mohd Nazlee Bin Kamal, Deputy Group Managing Director of SGB, said “The approval also means that Convidecia can now join in the Government’s push for high booster coverage in the fight against the Omicron variant of the virus, especially among vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the immunocompromised. The use of a booster shot from a different vaccine from the previously administered vaccine is also more effective with a higher immune response as compared to using the same vaccine for booster shots”.
According to a clinical trial by the Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a booster shot of Convidecia in previously vaccinated people offered a nearly 78-fold rise in neutralising antibody levels 14 days after inoculation, in comparison with a booster shot with the same inactivated vaccine showing a 15.2-fold increase in antibody levels.
Underscoring the efficacy of using heterologous vaccines, the clinical trial results showed that those receiving the single-dose Convidecia as a booster after receiving two-dose inactivated COVID-19 vaccines showed that it is safe and has high efficacy rates.
Out of the 133 million doses given either as a single or double dose regimen, 15.2 million or approximately 20% of all those vaccinated was the single-dose CanSino vaccine. The report from Mexico showed that the CanSino vaccine had one of the lowest total ESAVI rates of 0.10%, equivalent to the Sinovac inactivated vaccine.
The report also highlighted that some other viral vector and mRNA technology vaccines had significantly higher ESAVI rates than CanSino’s single-dose vaccine, ranging from 0.15-0.52%SOLBIO is also working together with CanSinoBIO to produce an inhaled version of the vaccine. This inhaled version, which induces cellular, humoral, and mucosal immunity, is currently undergoing trials as a booster and is expected to broaden the immune response against COVID-19.
