Quebec: Medicago in difficulty due to Philip Morris shareholding

Medicago is struggling to produce and sell its Covifenz vaccine against COVID-19, and is calling on the Quebec government for help.

Since announcing last February that its COVID vaccine had been developed and approved by Health Canada, which had pre-ordered several million doses, the pharmaceutical company Medicago has been experiencing a series of setbacks. The Covifenz vaccine, which it produces, is a recombinant protein vaccine developed from a plant related to tobacco.

A vaccine rejected by the WHO

Covifenz was first the first vaccine to be rejected by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 2, on the grounds that Philip Morris International (PMI) is a shareholder of this laboratory.[1]The WHO had recalled that Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) prohibits signatory states from involving tobacco manufacturers in public health policies, including as a simple shareholder in a laboratory.

This vaccine was then declared in April by the Comité sur l'immunisation du Québec (CIQ) as a second-line vaccine, with preference given to messenger RNA vaccines. The efficacy of Covifenz would in fact be only 71 %, compared to 94 % and 95 % for the vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer laboratories. The use of Covifenz would thus only be considered for people aged 18 to 64, who have a contraindication to messenger RNA vaccines or fear adverse effects from these vaccines.[2]The Covifenz vaccine is also only considered reliable for the first two doses, pending further clinical trials to be approved for use as a booster dose.

Significant production and sales difficulties

Medicago was supposed to deliver its first doses of the vaccines at the end of May, but they had still not been delivered as of June 12, raising many questions in Quebec and at the federal level. Medicago recently announced a production delay of several weeks, without indicating a specific delivery date.

Finally, on June 10, Medicago announced that it was in serious financial difficulty, having failed to find any other buyers than Canada for its Covifenz vaccine, and was appealing for help from the Quebec government.[3]. Quebec's Minister of Economy and Innovation, Pierre Fitzgibbon, indicated that he was studying the possibility of assistance from the laboratory, in the form of a buyout of PMI's interests (21 %). "Philip Morris' ownership is a problem", he said, eager to save Medicago, the flagship of Quebec bioengineering. Discussions were underway with the Japanese Mistubishi, the main shareholder (79 %) of Medicago.

Medicago's misfortunes thus risk putting Quebec's public finances under new strain, already in demand ahead of the vaccine project. "This is a predictable situation", indicated in March on ICI Première Gaston De Serres, physician-epidemiologist at the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ), "Medicago made the choice to accept Philip Morris as one of its shareholders a few years ago, knowing full well the position of the WHO."[4] The strong reactivity of the WHO and the medical world with regard to the Covifenz vaccine probably augurs the difficulties that PMI and other tobacco manufacturers will encounter in their desire to diversify into the pharmaceutical world.

Keywords: Medicago, Covifenz, Quebec, Canada, PMI

©Tobacco Free Generation

M.F.

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[1] Covifenz vaccine rejected by WHO for its affiliation with the tobacco industry, Generation Without Tobacco, published March 21, 2022, consulted March 12, 2022. [2] Lavoie M, COVID-19: Another setback for Medicago vaccine, Le Journal de Québec, published April 19, 2022, consulted June 15, 2022. [3] Bossed O, Quebec government considers buying shares in Medicago, Le Soleil, published June 10, 2022, consulted June 15, 2022 [4] Morrissette-Beaulieu F, WHO suspends approval of Medicago vaccine, Radio-Canada, published March 17, 2022, consulted March 12, 2022. National Committee Against Smoking |