Canada to Invest Nearly $163 Million in COVID-19 Vaccine, Says Trudeau

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government will pay up to $163 million to speed the development of a domestically produced COVID-19 vaccine from Quebec City-based Medicago.

Trudeau said the company will potentially supply 76 million doses of its plant-based vaccine, which uses noninfectious virus-like particles to mimic the coronavirus in order to elicit an immune response.

Medicago will begin phase 2 trials in early November with phase 3 trials slated for December.

In addition, Trudeau said the government could pay nearly $14 million to Vancouver-based biotechnology firm Precision NanoSystems to develop a messenger RNA-based vaccine.