This week, as clinical trials on humans were approved in Germany and
launched in the UK, the race to produce an effective vaccine against the novel
coronavirus has gathered momentum. While about 150 research projects are now
being implemented worldwide, the German and British plans are among only five
human clinical trials approved worldwide. An experimental coronavirus vaccine
developed by researchers at Oxford University is to be tested in people coming
from tomorrow 23rd April 2020, Health Secretary Matt Hancock reported.
The project received £20 m from the government to fund the vaccine
production, named ChAdOx1 nCoV-19. The study will include details on the
vaccine's safety features, as well as its ability to develop an immune response
to the virus. A collaboration between clinical teams of
the University's Jenner Institute and the Oxford Vaccine Community, the trials
recruit up to 510 volunteers who will either receive the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19
vaccine or a comparative control injection.
The health
secretary has confirmed that £22.5 million has been allocated to a vaccine project
at Imperial College London to help see it through phase II research and into
the production of phase III. Since early February the team has been evaluating
a candidate for an RNA vaccine in animals.
The Oxford trial is
testing ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, a candidate based on a modified chimpanzee adenovirus
which includes the spike or 'S' protein on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, the
COVID-19-causing virus.
The Imperial
candidate was developed by a team led by Professor Robin Shattock and is an
S-protein mRNA vaccine on SARS-CoV-2-utilizing a similar approach to a vaccine
developed by U.S. biotech Moderna that is currently in clinical trials.
Imperial's mRNA
vaccine has been in animal trials since early February, and may be ready for
testing for human health in June. The team says they are pursuing additional
philanthropic funding to conduct simultaneous international trials to
accelerate development and ensure the vaccine is widely available worldwide,
particularly in low- and middle-income countries. It will be tested in
approximately 500 volunteers and will focus on protection and tolerability, as
well as include an initial evaluation of how successful the shot is in
stimulating immune response to SARS-CoV-2.
The self-amplifying
RNA vaccine, when administered, should provide genetic guidance to muscle cells
to create the 'spike' protein on the coronavirus surface, which will induce an
immune response and create immunity to COVID-19.
"The only way
to kill coronavirus in the long run is through a vaccine," Hancock said at
a press conference yesterday. The UK is at the forefront of the global
effort and two of the leading vaccine advances are taking place here at
home, in Oxford and Imperial for all initiatives around the world."