The Government was due to purchase some 100 million doses of the vaccine earlier this year, but the deal was terminated citing an alleged breach of contract by the French manufacturer. According to new data published by the biotech firm on Monday, the coronavirus vaccine has faired better in trials than the UK's Oxford/AstraZeneca jab. The findings follow a trial of more than 4,000 adults across 26 sites in the UK.

       Chief executive Thomas Lingelbach said: "These results confirm the advantages often associated with inactivated whole virus vaccines.

       "We are committed to bringing our differentiated vaccine candidate to licensure as quickly as possible and continue to believe that we will be able to make an important contribution to the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic."

       Last month, the UK terminated a lucrative deal with the French manufacturer Valneva to purchase the vaccine.

       At the time, the Government cited a breach of contract all the company has "strenuously" denied this.

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       In February, the Government procured some 100 million doses of the vaccine with another 90 million to follow.

       The deal was estimated to be worth up to ￡1.19billion (€1.4billion).

       According to Valneva, the vaccine has produced a "neutralising antibody seroconversion rate above 95 percent".

       Even more impressively, the Phase Three trials have not recorded any severe cases of COVID-19.

       Participants aged 30 and over also reported "significantly fewer solicited adverse effects" up to seven days after vaccination.

       Less than one percent adverse side effects in both trial groups.

       The trials were split between about 3,000 people aged 30 and more, and about 1,000 people aged 18 to 29.

       The company is now preparing to trail the vaccine on children aged five to 12, to gauge its use as a booster shot.

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       Despite the Government pulling out of the Valneva contract, the company will continue to apply for approval.

       The firm is presently working with the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to ensure it can be released to the public.

       Juan Carlos Jaramillo, chief medical officer, said: "I would like to thank the trial investigators as well as all trial participants and collaborators, especially the National Institute for Health Research and the clinical teams within the NHS Research Centres as well as Public Health England.

       "This outcome shows the value of the collaboration that we started in September 2020 and we could not have achieved this milestone without them.

       "We’ll continue to work very closely with the MHRA to complete our rolling submission for approval."

       The French vaccine is presently the only jab in Europe to use a whole, inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.

       Adam Finn, a professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol and the trial chief investigator, said: "The low levels of reactogenicity and high functional antibody responses alongside broad T-cell responses seen with this adjuvanted inactivated whole virus vaccine are both impressive and extremely encouraging.

       "This is a much more traditional approach to vaccine manufacture than the vaccines so far deployed in the UK, Europe and North America and these results suggest this vaccine candidate is on track to play an important role in overcoming the pandemic."