LONDON: A team of scientists at Cambridge University is set to begin human trials for a new vaccine for COVID-19 that could potentially work against other coronavirus diseases.
It is the third UK-based project to reach this stage of development, following vaccines currently being developed by teams at Oxford University and Imperial College London.
The Cambridge prototype vaccine, which is being developed in partnership with DIOSynVax and the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, where the trial will take place, will receive £1.9 million ($2.5 million) in government funding for the initial stages.
It works by delivering the vaccine, composed of antigens (cells that mimic those of COVID-19) through the skin, which then train the immune system to recognize and attack them, in the hope that if introduced to COVID-19 cells themselves, it will induce the same response.
The Cambridge team created the antigens by mapping the genetic codes of other coronaviruses.
They hope that as well as COVID-19, a single dose of their vaccine could also train the human body to ward off other coronavirus diseases such as SARS and MERS.
“Making a coronavirus vaccine that will protect us not only from this pandemic but the next one — that’s our goal,” said Jonathan Heeney, head of the laboratory of viral zoonotics at Cambridge University, and founder of DIOSynVax.
Most COVID-19 vaccines in advanced trials differ from the Cambridge vaccine, as they work on the principal of getting the immune system to recognize and attack the virus’s “spike proteins,” which it uses to attach itself to human cells.
The Cambridge vaccine utilizes a device that injects it into skin cells using air, which has previously been used to administer cancer treatments to patients.
The scientists believe the approach could be beneficial, helping to fine-tune doses and avoid potentially hazardous side-effects.
It also has the benefit of being able to be freeze-dried in powder form, making it easier to transport, store and administer in poorer countries with less access to specialized refrigeration.
“Our strategy (targets) those domains of the virus’s structure critical for docking with a cell. What we end up with is a mimic, a synthetic part of the virus minus those non-essential elements that could trigger a bad immune response,” said Heeney.
“We’re looking for crucial pieces of the virus that we can use to … direct the immune response in the right direction,” he added.
“Ultimately, we aim to make a vaccine that will not only protect from (COVID-19), but other related coronaviruses that may spill over from animals to humans.”
Prof. Saul Faust, director of University Hospital Southampton, said: “It is critical that different vaccine technologies are tested as at this stage no one can be sure which type of vaccine will produce the best and most long-lived immune responses.”
The news has further bolstered hope that a successful vaccine could be approved for mass production and use by the end of the year, despite England’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, previously casting doubt on such a timeframe.
“This could be a major breakthrough in being able to give a future vaccine to huge numbers of people across the world,” Faust said.
Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said Whitty “is quite rightly being cautious, but it is also just possible that if the cases accrue rapidly in the clinical trials, we could have that data to put before regulators this year.”
The development comes amid news that further trials of an antibody treatment, which could help protect people from COVID-19 where a vaccine would prove unsuitable, are underway in the UK.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, a partner in the production of the Oxford vaccine, is developing the treatment.
The company said human trials would involve up to 48 healthy participants aged 18-55, and there are hopes that positive results could be returned by the end of 2020.
