BRIEF—GSK and Clover to develop COVID-19 vaccine

China’s Clover Biopharmaceuticals and the UK’s GlaxoSmithKline are to work together on a protein-based coronavirus vaccine candidate, COVID-19 S-Trimer.

GSK will provide Clover with its pandemic adjuvant system for further evaluation of S-Trimer in preclinical studies.

Clover has one of the largest in-house, commercial-scale cGMP biomanufacturing capabilities in China.

GSK Vaccines chief medical officer Thomas Breuer said: “The use of an adjuvant is of particular importance in a pandemic situation since it may reduce the amount of vaccine protein required per dose, allowing more vaccine doses to be produced and therefore contributing to protect more people.”