Virus Variants Made Medicago’s Vaccine ‘Irrelevant’: CEO

The head of vaccine maker Medicago explained to MPs why the company never delivered the promised doses to Canada, saying that the evolution of the virus had made their product “irrelevant.” Toshifumi Tada, president and CEO of Medicago, testified to the House of Commons health committee on Dec. 11, as MPs conduct a study on how the Canadian government lost over $300 million with its deal with the vaccine maker. Medicago, which was based in Quebec City, was developing a novel plant-based vaccine platform against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The company was one of seven that received contracts from Ottawa before having a product to put to market, with the government hedging its bets to obtain a viable vaccine candidate....