The pharmaceutical company Hipra delivered the first doses of its covid vaccine to the Ministry of Health on April 28. Spain, which has acquired 3.2 million doses, will be the first country to distribute the Hipra vaccine, marketed as Bimervax.
Who will receive these doses?
The EMA [European Medicines Agency] has approved the vaccine as a booster dose for people older than 16 years who have previously received at least one dose of messenger RNA against covid. In Spain, it is up to the Ministry of Health's Vaccine Report to indicate whether it is recommended for the entire population over 16 or for a specific subgroup.
If the Vaccine Report has not been delivered, does it mean that the Hipra vaccine cannot yet be inoculated in Spain?
It has been received by participants in clinical trials. But the doses we started distributing on April 28 have not yet started to be administered.
If a person has been vaccinated with messenger RNA, is there any advantage to switching to the Hipra vaccine at the next booster dose?
The results of the clinical trials show that the effectiveness of our vaccine is equivalent to that of Comirnaty [that of Pfizer-BioNTech]. And it has the advantage of being less reactogenic.
Reactogenic?
I am referring to the immediate effects of the vaccine such as pain in the area of the puncture, feeling tired the next day, headache... which are not serious, but they are annoying. Having a less reactogenic vaccine is important for those people who may be reluctant to receive a booster dose because they have become unwell after receiving a messenger RNA vaccine.
How do they know it is as effective as the Pfizer vaccine?
In clinical trials, we compared the amount of neutralizing antibodies a person creates when they receive a booster dose of Bimervax [the one from Hipra] and when they receive it from Comirnaty [the one from Pfizer-BioNTech].
With what results?
The level of neutralizing antibodies 14 days after the booster dose is similar with the two vaccines. We have also found that even if a person contracts covid after being vaccinated, which can happen with all vaccines, our vaccine's protection against severe forms of the disease is maintained for at least six months. On the other hand, our vaccine has advantages for healthcare professionals compared to those of messenger RNA.
What advantages?
It arrives at health centers without the need for any kind of manipulation. And what's more, it can be kept in the fridge, without the need for freezing at ultra-low temperatures like messenger RNA, which facilitates logistics when distributing the vaccine to the points where it will be administered.
Hipra's vaccine is based on the fragment of the S protein of the virus that mutates the most and not on the entire S protein, like those of other companies. Do you fear that this will affect the effectiveness of your vaccine against future variants?
Our vaccine generated an adequate level of neutralizing antibodies against all the variants we analyzed, including some of the recent omicron variants. Therefore, it offers a broad spectrum of protection against multiple variants. Of course, as the virus evolves, we and other companies will need to check that our vaccines continue to offer a high level of protection. But we are no more worried than others might be.
Are you worried about reaching a time when the vaccine market is already saturated and the motivation of citizens to get vaccinated has decreased?
It is clear that we are concerned. But we are convinced that the European authorities will not allow decisions that were taken in a pandemic context [with reference to the commitment to buy massive quantities of the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech] to block the entry of new generation vaccines that bring advantages. The way to live with the coronavirus is to be well immunized. Our vaccine would allow people who do not want to receive more doses of messenger RNA to maintain good immunity.
In which countries, besides Spain, do they plan to distribute the vaccine?
Several European countries have expressed interest in acquiring doses for the autumn. We had a meeting in Brussels in April and representatives from all but one country came. If they weren't interested, they wouldn't have come. They are waiting to see how the renegotiation of the European contract with Pfizer turns out.
What outside of Europe?
We had to wait for the approval of the vaccine in Europe to apply for registration in other countries. We are already working on it. We are in talks with the United Kingdom and with countries in Latin America and Asia.
How much has it cost Hipra to develop the vaccine?
These are data that we do not make public, but I can tell you that it is the project that has required the most financial effort in the history of the company.
Has it been financed with public funds?
We have done it mostly with our own resources. As public funding we have received two contributions from the Ministry of Science and Innovation amounting to 17.9 million. Of this amount, 12.8 million are loans that we have to return within the stipulated terms. The other 5.1 are subsidies.
Do they expect to recoup their investment?
Of course we hope to get it back. It is what will allow us to invest in more projects in the future. What we don't know is how long it will take to get it back.
