The Spanish Vaccine: A New Asset in the Fight Against COVID-19

It must be recognized that the topic of covid vaccines is no longer the most popular for the covers. Moreover, it is even controversial. This is not new in the history of pandemics. When hospitals are full, science is admired and applauded. When the danger passes, science is, at best, boring. And this is what has happened with vaccines, perhaps because it was thought that they would kill the virus and they have not. That probably explains why the news about the approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) of the first Spanish vaccine has tiptoed through the media.

The fact is that the virus, who doesn’t care what we think, continues to do its thing in the form of persistent covid and premature deaths. And now, as if that were not enough, it has been shown that it can cause malformations in the brain of newborns whose mothers have suffered covid during pregnancy without being vaccinated. Not to mention the new massive waves of cases recently detected in India, caused by a new sub-variant of omicron that is now spreading across the US. Or the recent recommendation by the FDA of bivalent souvenir doses of the covid vaccine for people over 65.

Therefore, we cannot simply forget about the virus: we must continue to push to minimize its impact. And on this front, our best ally is vaccines.

We need vaccines that are universally accessible, cheap, long-lasting and easy to distribute. But also easy to update, effective against all possible variants of the virus and eliminate its transmission. In that direction is the Spanish vaccine designed by the Hipra company and already approved by the EMA. That is why it is difficult to understand the little enthusiasm generated.

Vaccine portfolio in Europe against covid-19

We are going to first analyze how many vaccines are being inoculated in Europe to have a context on how the new Spanish vaccine fits in this scenario and what other vaccines are needed.

To date, the European Commission has granted eight conditional marketing authorisations. In addition to the first ones that began to be administered at the end of December 2020 and the beginning of 2021 (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen Pharmaceutical), Novavax, Valneva, Vivprevyin and, finally, the Spanish vaccine developed by the company Hipra, which has shown positive results in the safety and efficacy evaluations carried out by the EMA (European Medicines Agency). and there is still more vaccines in different phases of evaluation.

Beyond RNA

Although RNA, DNA and protein vaccines have been the first to be developed against covid-19, they are not the only ones that exist.

The first vaccines in history contained whole viruses or bacteria, either weakened so that they did not cause serious disease or directly inactivated. These vaccines have the advantage that, by containing the entire pathogen, they produce a more complete immunity, with antibodies that recognize various parts of it.

Another type of vaccine is the similar particle vaccine, which contains an imitation of the microbe but without the genetic material. The disadvantage of the latter is that they take longer to develop.

In the case of the recent coronavirus pandemic, the simplest vaccines were chosen, which contain only one virus protein: the one that generates the most effective antibodies. This is the case of viral vector, protein (such as Hipra), DNA and RNA vaccines.

What advantages does the Hipra vaccine have?

Bimervax is a vaccine whose main component is a protein, like the flu vaccine. It does not contain genetic material, but directly fragments of the famous S protein, which is specific to the virus. Thanks to this composition, it does not need such low temperatures for its conservation and transport, because it is more stable than those of messenger RNA.

Regarding side effects, those of Bimervax they are comparable to those of other covid-19 vaccines: pain at the injection site, headache, fatigue and muscle pain. These were generally mild to moderate in the trials and resolved within a few days after vaccination.

Like all vaccines that have been licensed, its safety and efficacy will continue to be monitored as the vaccine is used throughout the European Union. The Hipra company is also obliged to provide regular security updates.

How has its effectiveness been proven in clinical trials when almost 80% of people are vaccinated?

Obviously, it has not been compared with unvaccinated people, rather the clinical trials were designed to compare their immune response to existing vaccines.

In it main study carried out with Bimervax in which the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona and the Hospital Universitari de Girona have participated, the immune response was compared with the response obtained with the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in its original variant (Wuhan). Participants included 765 adults who had previously completed primary vaccination with two doses of Comirnaty, and who subsequently received a booster dose of Bimervax or Comirnaty.

The results obtained revealed that although Bimervax produced lower levels of antibodies against the parent strain, higher levels of antibodies were observed against the beta and omicron variants, and very similar against the delta variant.

Thus, it is more effective when used as a booster dose against other strains that arose later. Thus, a booster dose of Bimervax is expected to be at least as effective such as Comirnaty to restore protection against covid-19 in people aged 16 and over, and probably protect more.

Seen like this in context, it is really good news that we have a Spanish vaccine. The fact that we have not been the first does not mean that what we have done is worthless. Fortunately, science is not like a football game, and each new discovery builds on previous results.

In fact, if we go by the US, where a recent important investment In second-generation covid vaccines, there is still a long way to go. If the League is won game by game, as a famous coach said, let’s celebrate our goals and not just those of others.