TORONTO -- A Canadian drugmaker says it has produced 鈥渃ompelling鈥 early results from animal testing of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, but the government hasn鈥檛 responded to its application for funding that would allow it to advance to human clinical trials.
Calgary-based Providence Therapeutics, which designs cancer drugs using a technique called mRNA, announced Wednesday that the 鈥減reclinical鈥 data from testing in mice showed more promising results than other notable COVID-19 research conducted with mRNA vaccines.
鈥淚 would gladly test our vaccine head-to-head against any out there,鈥 said Chief Scientific Officer Eric Marcusson in a press release. 鈥淚t is always difficult to compare preclinical results, however, I believe our results compare extremely favorably to preclinical results reported by other companies.鈥
Researchers at the University of Toronto conducted tests on mice and found that the vaccine candidate PTX-COVID19-B produced 鈥渞obust鈥 neutralizing antibodies, which are needed to defend cells from invading pathogens such as the novel coronavirus.
鈥淭he results coming from our first animal experiment showed that the vaccines are resulting in a strong immune response,鈥 said Dr. Mario Ostrowski, an immunology professor at the University of Toronto, in a press release. 鈥淚n particular, the vaccine against the S protein produced neutralizing antibodies at higher titers than the results announced by other mRNA vaccine manufacturers.鈥
Brad Sorenson, president and CEO of Providence Therapeutics, told 麻豆影视 that these results show their vaccine has shown to be 鈥渆quivalent or better鈥 than those from much larger firms in the vaccine race.
鈥淲e expected that it would work, but the results were even greater than we expected, so we were very pleased about that,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e're very anxious to repeat this in real-life patients.鈥
Another notable mRNA vaccine is by U.S. biotechnology company Moderna, which has received hundreds of millions in funding from the U.S. government and entered final-stage testing last month when the first of some 30,000 Americans received the shot.
But Providence, which says it鈥檚 one of Canada鈥檚 leading mRNA vaccine producers, hasn鈥檛 heard from the government since late May and has yet to receive funding for the next stages of its testing after it submitted a $35-million proposal in April. That same month, the federal government committed more than $600 million to vaccine manufacturing and research in Canada, including clinical trials. Among projects already funded as part of that pledge is a partnership between China鈥檚 CanSino Biologics and Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.
Sorenson said his company is expecting to be able to produce 5 million vaccines by next summer, but without help from the federal government, they are hamstrung.
鈥淭he challenge that we're facing is, we're not a large pharma company,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e have really good technology, fantastic scientists 鈥 but for us to go into human trials, we either need to raise more money -- which we can do if we've got a government that is indicated that they're interested in what we're producing -- or we need a government to sponsor those clinical trials.鈥
Sorenson added that if the Canadian government does not help fund their human trials, they might have to find another government that will.
鈥淲e're at a point in a company that if the Canadian government doesn't want to do it, we're going to start looking elsewhere, and that's just the reality,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e've got a world-class vaccine and if it's not going to be for Canadians, it's going to be for somebody else.鈥
Sorenson said he has already had 鈥減reliminary discussions鈥 with other governments about their vaccine, primarily from individual provinces.
Meanwhile, health professionals and politicians alike are urging the government to speed its funding process for homegrown vaccines so that Canadians won鈥檛 have to wait in line for another country鈥檚 COVID-19 shot. Among those adding their voice was Alberta Sen. Doug Black, who said pressure should be kept on the government to act.
鈥淚 see the commitment that's being made by the European and American governments to this identical technology and I'm saying, 'Hmm, why in the name of goodness aren't we pursuing this aggressively in Canada?鈥欌 he told The Canadian Press earlier this week. 鈥淣o stone should be left unturned in pursuit of a made-in-Canada COVID solution.鈥
Industry Canada, which is charge of administering the $600 million to vaccine manufacturing and research in Canada, has not responded to a 麻豆影视 request for comment.
With files from CTVNews.ca Writer Ben Cousins
