The U.S. military has launched clinical trials for the next-generation COVID-19 vaccine designed to protect against the pandemic virus, its variants, and other coronaviruses.
In early tests, the shot appears to cause high levels of antibodies that should block the oldest wild-type coronavirus, three major variants, and even SARS-CoV-1, the similar pathogen that triggered the outbreak. SARS in 2002.
Developed at the Walter Reed Army Research Institute (WRAIR), the shot could have the potential to prevent future viruses from causing pandemics, the scientists behind it hope.
His first clinical trial, launched this week, will test the shooting on 72 health volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55.
U.S. Army scientists have launched clinical trials on 72 participants for their coronavirus vaccine, which triggered antibodies against multiple variants in the first tests, and could even work widely enough to prevent future disease. coronavirus and its variants (file)
The three COVID-19 vaccines available under emergency use authorization (US) in the US are highly effective against the way it spread as a powder in 2020.
But the UK’s most infectious B117 variant is now dominant in the United States, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Wednesday.
Vaccines still protect against B117, but new threats have emerged.
Variants first identified in South Africa, Brazil, New York, California, and India have mutations that cause scientists to worry that the variants may elude antibodies caused by vaccines.
So far, the three vaccines authorized in the United States, as well as AstraZeneca’s assaulted shot, appear to have been weakened by variants in South Africa and Brazil, but which still protect them, which were the cause of greatest concern.
And data released Wednesday suggests the Moderna vaccine works against the California variant.
If Moderna’s vaccine can stop the variant, it’s likely that Pfizer can do the same, because both shots use the same type of technology.
But all of these traits work by targeting the so-called “ear” protein.
Spike protein protrudes from the surface of the virus and allows it to break in and infect human cells.
Current vaccines trigger antibodies designed to adhere to this rise, disabling or at least weakening their ability to bind to receptors on the surface of human cells.
But viruses are constantly mutating and this region of the virus is particularly prone to evolving.
Vaccines can be upgraded to counteract these mutations, but this could mean an endless loop of booster shots.
And viruses like SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, make the jump from animals to humans more often, increasing the overall risk of more pandemics.
Thus, the military takes a different approach in the hope of addressing the current pandemic, its evolution, and possibly future.
“That’s why we need a vaccine like this: one that can broadly and proactively protect against multiple coronavirus species and strains,” said Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, director of WRAIR’s Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDB) branch, which runs The COVID of the army. 19 research on vaccines.
“Even before recent variants of COVID-19 were identified, our team was concerned about the appearance of new coronaviruses in human populations, a threat that has been accelerating in recent years.”
Global disease experts have been on high alert for years.
Thus, ideally, universal vaccines against all kinds of pathogens could help the world be prepared for virtually any threat, before it reaches pandemic proportions.
To do this, the technology used by the military (known as the ferritin nanoparticle vaccine platform) allows small harmless pieces of a virus or virus to adhere to the round surface of the vehicle and be delivered to the body. .
This vehicle is the ferritin nanoparticle, a small particle that contains iron. Most vaccines, such as those made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, use a harmless virus as a vehicle. MRNA shots like Modern and Pfizer offer a piece of genetic code for the coronavirus ear protein to provide technology to the body to make that protein and antibodies against it.
But the military vaccine could lead to broader protection, and because it uses a simpler iron nanoparticle, it would not need to be stored at temperatures as cold as those required for currently authorized shots.
And it could develop much faster.
Early tests showed that the same vaccine developed by the military triggered high levels of neutralizing antibodies against the variants, as did the 2002 SARS virus.
Early research on this type of vaccine suggests that they trigger equally strong, if not strong, immune responses compared to other vaccine platforms, and do so with fewer side effects.
Now, he just has to prove his bravery in clinical trials.
“We’re in this long term,” Dr. Modjarrad said.
“We have designed and positioned this platform as the next generation vaccine, paving the way for a universal vaccine to protect not only against the current virus, but also against future variants, stopping them in their path before they can cause another pandemic “. ‘