Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline delay vaccine due to weak immune response in elderly

Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline said clinical trials of their coronavirus vaccine showed an insufficient immune response in older people, delaying its launch to late next year and marking a setback in the global fight against the pandemic, Reuters reports.

The announcement on Friday, which highlighted the challenges of developing shots at record speed, hinders efforts to develop the multiple options that experts say the world needs to counter a disease that has killed over 1.5 million people.

The news, which came on the same day as Australia axed a domestic vaccine project, is also a blow for many governments that have booked hundreds of millions of doses of the shot, including the European Union, United States and Britain.

The two companies said they planned to start another study next February, hoping to come up with a more effective vaccine by the end of 2021.