French pharmaceutical firm Valneva will start the first clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate at four sites in England, Britain’s business ministry has said.

The phase 1 and phase 2 trials involve 150 volunteers in Bristol, Birmingham, Southampton and Newcastle, and will be designed to show whether the vaccine is safe and produces an immune response.

If these are successful, larger trials are planned for April 2021 to determine efficacy. There are four other vaccine candidates undergoing clinical trials in the United Kingdom.