Hipra’s Catalan vaccine, Bimervax, against Covid 19, obtained the endorsement of the European Medicines Agency, EMA.
It may be administered as a booster to persons over 16 years of age who have already received a dose of an mRNA vaccine.
This endorsement is undoubtedly great news for the laboratory and for Spain in general.
The vaccine, which has been under study for one year, has shown strong data on its quality, safety and immunogenicity and has been found to be beneficial to the population.
Bimervax has become the ninth EMA-endorsed vaccine against Covid and is most effective against the beta and omicron variants.
The main study conducted showed a positive immune response to Bimervax together with Pfizer’s Bimervax in 765 adults.
Hipra’s vaccine resulted in the production of lower levels of antibodies against the original SARS-CoV-2 strain. Achieved higher levels of antibodies against beta and omicron variants. In addition, it reached comparable levels against the delta variant, according to the EMA.
Catalan vaccine against Covid endorsed by EMA
The news was celebrated by both the Spanish government and Hipra, which described Thursday as “a very special and emotional day for the whole team”.
Hipra’s Executive Vice President and Director of R&D and Registration, Elia Torroella, stressed that the Catalan vaccine is “new generation” and responds to current needs in the face of the pandemic.
Hipra’s Catalan vaccine has demonstrated solid data on its quality, safety and immunogenicity.
This can be a great advantage over other vaccines that have not been as well studied or do not have as solid data on their efficacy.
The effectiveness of Bimervax and other advantages
In addition, the efficacy of Bimervax against beta and omicron variants is a plus, as they are constantly evolving and a vaccine that is more effective against these variants can be very attractive to the population.
Another point to note is that Bimervax can be administered as a booster in people over 16 years of age who have received Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
This means that Hipra’s vaccine does not compete directly with mRNA vaccines. But it can be a complementary option for those who want to strengthen their immunity against Covid-19.
Finally, the fact that Bimervax does not require freezing in transport or storage is a really important point.
And all because of the experience lived during the pandemic, the logistics of the vaccines became a determining and important factor in the application of the biologic to the population.
Its benefits outweigh its risks.
