Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine announced today that they have developed a promising new candidate for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Early animal trials have shown good results, but human trials are still in the planning stages.
“We had previous experience with SARS-CoV in 2003 and MERS-CoV in 2014,” said Andrea Gambotto, co-author of a peer-reviewed paper published in EBioMedicine and an assistant professor of surgery at the Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
“These two viruses, which are closely related to SARS-CoV-2, teach us that a specific protein called a spike protein is important for inducing immunity against the virus,” Gambotto explained. “We knew exactly how to deal with this new virus.”
The vaccine, dubbed 'PittCoVacc' (Pittsburgh Coronavirus Vaccine), works in the same way as the flu shot: by injecting bits of a viral protein made in a laboratory into the body to help build immunity.
When tested in mice, the researchers found that the number of antibodies capable of neutralizing the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus increased after two weeks.
Instead of a needle, the new drug is injected through a microneedle matrix – a patch with 400 tiny microneedles. After applying the patch, the microneedles, which are completely composed of sugar and protein, dissolve without leaving any residue.
“We developed it as a high-tech version that is more efficient and reproducible for the patient,” said co-senior study author Louis Falo, professor and chair of dermatology at the Pitt School of Medicine, in a statement. “And it's actually pretty painless – it looks like Velcro.”
These patches can be easily manufactured in large medical factories on an industrial scale, the researchers said. The vaccine doesn't even need to be refrigerated during storage or transport – a huge achievement.
“For most vaccines, you don't need to start with scalability,” Gambotto said. “But when you're trying to quickly develop a pandemic vaccine, that's the first requirement.”
Before embarking on human trials, researchers are currently applying for clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration.
“Testing on patients usually takes at least a year and possibly longer,” Falo said. “This particular situation is different from anything we've ever seen, so we don't know how long the clinical development process will take.”
This article was published by Futurism.
Sources: Photo: UPMC
