The army’s own vaccine that could fight COVID variants begins clinical trials

A single vaccine produced by Army Research Institute Walter Reed began clinical trials on Tuesday and Army researchers hope it can fight variants of SARS-COV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID- 19.

The vaccine, called a spiked ferritin nanoparticle, or SpFN, could also help fight other coronaviruses, a group of RNA-related viruses that often cause respiratory-related diseases in mammals.

Army researchers have been following the threat posed by new coronaviruses even before the pandemic, according to Kayvon Modjarrad, Walter Reed’s director of emerging infectious diseases. This threat has been accelerating in recent years.

“That’s why we need a vaccine like this: one that has the potential to broadly and proactively protect against multiple coronavirus species and strains,” Modjarrad said in a statement announcing SpFN testing.

The Department of Defense has had a combined total of more than 271,000 COVID-19 cases. Of these, 3,814 people have been hospitalized and 332 people have died. Twenty-four of the dead have been members of the service and 11 have been dependent.

The vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna were approved under an emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and are available to troops.

The Pentagon has made force vaccination a problem of readiness so that military operations can return to pre-pandemic standards. While there were some issues in pressuring troops to get the voluntary vaccine at first, vaccination rates appear to be rising in recent weeks.

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“The more people get vaccinated as quickly as possible, the lower the level of transmission of the virus, which gives it fewer chances to continue mutating,” said Dr. Steven Cersovsky, deputy director of the Army Public Health Center.

New variants of COVID-19 have emerged in South Africa and the United Kingdom. But Army medical personnel are confident that current vaccines can fight these new strains. But if there are problems, Walter Reed’s vaccine may be timely.

“We have designed and positioned this platform as the next generation vaccine, paving the way for a universal vaccine that protects not only against the current virus but also against future variants, stopping them in their path before they can cause another pandemic, ”Modjarrad said.

Preclinical studies indicated that SpFN induces very strong antibody responses in patients, inhibiting the virus that causes COVID-19 infection, as well as three major variants of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1 virus.

The Phase 1 study is being conducted at the Walter Reed Clinical Trials Center and will enroll 72 healthy adult volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55. Participants will be placed randomly in placebo groups or in experimental groups.

The SpFN clinical trial is sponsored by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command.

The vaccine was developed by the Walter Reed Army Research Institute with support from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc.