Medicago Inc.

Medicago Inc. is a Canadian biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of virus-like particles using plants as "bioreactors" to produce proteins as candidate vaccines and medications. By using live plant leaves as hosts in the discovery and manufacturing process, the Medicago "Proficia" technology has the goal to create a rapid, high-yield system for its product candidates.

Medicago Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryBiotechnology
Founded1999 
HeadquartersQuebec City, Quebec, Canada
Key people
Takashi Nagao (CEO)
Websitemedicago.com

The main clinical targets for Medicago product candidates in 2020 are antiviral vaccines and antibody therapeutics. The company has a Phase III clinical trial underway in 2020 for its candidate vaccine to prevent seasonal influenza.[1]

Medicago grows its virus-like particles in the Australian weed, Nicotiana benthamiana.[2] In July 2020, the company began a Phase I clinical trial on its candidate vaccine for COVID-19 disease.[3][4]

N. benthamiana plant used by Medicago as a "minifactory" for rapid production of VLPs for a potential COVID-19 vaccine

The company's name derives from the Latin word for alfalfa, which was the first plant the company used to develop its technologies.[5] Medicago technologies evolved from research at the University of Laval and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in the 1990s. Medicago is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma since 2013.[6]

In December 2020, Takashi Nagao went from being the Chairman of the Board of Medicago to becoming its new President & Chief Executive Officer, replacing Dr. Bruce D. Clark.[7]

Technology
Nicotiana benthamiana, leaf

The Medicago technology uses plants as efficient bioreactors - or mini factories - to produce proteins for vaccine and protein-based therapeutic candidates.[8] The plant-based production platform is intended to be agile, accurate, and rapid to shorten product development time and prevent the risk of mutation.[8]

Medicago uses its proprietary Proficia technology, which is a possible alternative to traditional egg-based methods for producing virus-like particles (VLPs) used to manufacture a vaccine candidate.[6][8] Typically, licensed influenza vaccines are manufactured using embryonated chicken eggs.[9] With living plants as hosts, Proficia technology uses VLP production as antigens in plant leaves, providing a flexible, high-yield system with potential to produce test material within the growth period of plants (one month).[8]

The steps of the technology are:

  1. synthesis – VLP genes are produced from a known viral sequence, requiring no live virus;
  2. infiltration – using a vacuum infiltration method, the VLP genes are introduced into plant leaves;
  3. incubation – the plants containing the genetic material are incubated over days in specific chambers for protein production to grow VLPs;
  4. harvest – leaves are collected then processed to extract VLPs;
  5. purification – clinical-grade material is purified to prepare for human testing.[8]

VLPs serve as potential vaccines by mimicking the natural structure and function of viruses, enabling recognition by the immune system.[8] However, by absence of the main virus genetic material, VLPs are non-infectious and unable to replicate like a virus does in vivo, thereby evoking an immune response similar to a natural infection, but without the associated illnesses.[8]

COVID-19 vaccine development
Main article: CoVLP
Further information: COVID-19 vaccine

The lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CoVLP, by Medicago, is a coronavirus VLP grown in the Australian weed, Nicotiana benthamiana.[2][3][10]

Medicago is developing the COVID-19 vaccine candidate in collaboration with the governments of Canada and Quebec,[5] and by using an adjuvant manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).[11]

Phase I research

As of August 2020, the Medicago vaccine candidate was being evaluated for safety, toxicity, and immune response in a Phase I clinical trial at two locations in Quebec.[4]

Phase II-III research

In November 2020, Medicago-GSK started Phase II-III clinical trials for their COVID-19 vaccine candidate.[10][12]

As of January 2021, the Phase III trial was enrolling participants toward the total goal of 30,612, with each volunteer receiving two injections 21 days apart in an amount of 3.75 micrograms of CoVLP each time.[13] The Phase III study is scheduled to conclude in April 2022.[13]

See also

References
  1. "Medicago - Pipeline". Medicago Inc. 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  2. St. Philip, Elizabeth; Favaro, Avis; MacLeod, Meredith (14 July 2020). "The hunt for a vaccine: Canadian company begins human testing of COVID-19 candidate". CTV News. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  3. Vishwadha Chander (14 July 2020). "Canada's Medicago begins human trials of plant-based COVID-19 vaccine". National Post. Reuters. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  4. "Safety, Tolerability and Immunogenicity of a Coronavirus-Like Particle COVID-19 Vaccine in Adults Aged 18-55 Years". ClinicalTrials.gov. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  5. "Medicago - About us". Medicago Inc. 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  6. "New tobacco-based flu vaccine offers promising alternative to egg-based versions, says GlobalData analyst". Manufacturing Chemist. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  7. "Takashi Nagao Appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Medicago". www.businesswire.com. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  8. "Medicago - Technologies". Medicago Inc. 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  9. "Tobacco-based influenza vaccine hailed a promising alternative to egg-based methods". The Pharma Letter. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  10. "Medicago and GSK start of Phase II/III clinical trials of adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine candidate". Drug Discovery World. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  11. "GSK partners with Medicago to develop plant-based Covid-19 vaccine". Pharmaceutical Technology. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  12. "GSK, Medicago launch phase 2/3 clinical trials of plant-derived COVID-19 vaccine". PMLive. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  13. Medicago (18 November 2020). "Randomized, Observer-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Phase 2/3 Study to Assess the Safety, Efficacy, and Immunogenicity of a Recombinant Coronavirus-Like Particle COVID-19 Vaccine in Adults 18 Years of Age or Older". Clinical Trials. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
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