Covid-19: after the failure of his vaccine project, Pasteur wants to "bounce back"

The Institut Pasteur on Tuesday stopped its main vaccine project against Covid-19, developed with the American firm Merck.

"On this failure, we will certainly bounce back," said Christophe d'Enfert, scientific director of the institution, on Tuesday on Europe 1. Two other projects are underway.

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The Institut Pasteur on Tuesday gave up its main Covid-19 vaccine project.

This was developed in collaboration with the American laboratory Merck, on the model of the vaccine against measles.

For the French research center, the insufficient efficiency of the first tests of its main vaccine, which led to its end, is a blow.

But its researchers do not say they are defeated.

"We must also say that from this failure, we can learn to develop vaccines in the future," said Christophe d'Enfert, scientific director of the Pasteur Institute, Tuesday on Europe 1. "On this failure, we will certainly bounce."

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"It is the law of vaccine development"

"It's a disappointment, but at the same time, it's the law of vaccine development. We often talk about starting from 100 candidates to achieve success," Christophe d'Enfert puts into perspective.

For him, this failure should allow the Institute and its teams to know "how to better use the measles platform for the development of vaccines against other infectious diseases".

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Moreover, the failure is not total for the research center which is still working on two other vaccine projects.

"The first is based on the use of another viral vector which is a virus from the HIV family", recalls the scientific director of the foundation.

"The preclinical results show that this vaccine is very effective, particularly when administered through the use of a nasal spray."

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The second project concerns a DNA vaccine.

"Here too", the "pre-clinical results" are "interesting", assures Christophe d'Enfert.

"I think that research teaches us to bounce back always and always," he concludes with a bit of a philosopher.