The Covid-19 has been dominating the news for more than two years, but the flu is still present. Persevering, the biotech Osivax does not let go of its target: its “universal” vaccine project against the scourge of winter, whose viral strain varies each year, has just reached a key stage with the obtaining of a subsidy from Bpifrance. of 10 million euros. This amount will allow it to launch the phase IIB clinical study for its broad-spectrum vaccine OVX836, effective against the many mutations of the virus, the same problem as for Sars-CoV-2.
“Influenza is a global market of 6 billion dollars, the number 1 of which is called Sanofi Pasteur”, recalls the founding president of Osivax, Alexandre Le Vert. But the vaccines, modified from one year to the next according to the recommendations of the WHO which tries to anticipate the dominant strains, “are not effective enough”, he points out. “Over ten years, we observe an average efficiency of 40%. »
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