April 22, 2020
Germany and the UK are advancing with plans for medical trials using human volunteers in the race for a vaccine against COVID-19, according to reports.
The Paul Ehrlich Institute in Germany on Wednesday green-lighted the trials for a vaccine established by regional company BioNTech and US pharma giant Pfizer, according to Agence France-Presse.
” The Paul-Ehrlich-Institute … has actually authorized the first medical trial of a vaccine against COVID-19 in Germany,” PEI, the federal institute for vaccines, stated in a statement.
Tests of the vaccine prospect– called BNT162– also are planned in the US, once regulative approval for testing on people is secured in the country, according to Reuters.
The trials will consist of “200 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 55 years” who will be vaccinated with versions of the RNA vaccine. A second phase could consist of volunteers from high-risk groups.
Neither PEI nor the developers defined when the trial will begin, though Biontech said in a declaration that it would be “soon” and “ahead of our expectations.”
The trial is only the 4th worldwide of a preventive representative targeting the coronavirus, which has so far killed more than 177,000 people and contaminated about 2.5 million, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
In the UK, meanwhile, scientists will quickly start recruiting volunteers for medical trials on a 2nd vaccine that are set to begin in June with Imperial College London, according to the Sun.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock promised 22.5 million pounds sterling– practically $28 million– for the effort.
Task leader Dr. Robin Shattock acknowledged there was “absolutely no warranty they will work,” but that current animal trials have succeeded, according to the news outlet.
Healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55 are being sought for the trials, which are expected to last 6 months.
Hancock also revealed that scientists at Oxford University will begin evaluating a vaccine on people on Thursday after the British federal government vowed the equivalent of nearly $25 million.
Oxford wants to enhance the immune system using a typical cold virus derived from chimps, while Imperial researchers are using a liquid to bring hereditary material into the blood stream, according to the Sun.
Oxford team leader Prof. Sarah Gilbert last week stated a vaccine could be available for usage by the general public by autumn.
” Personally, I have a high degree of self-confidence. And, I think, it has a very strong possibility of working,” she said.
