A COVID-19 trial that will allow healthy young people to pay £ 4,500 ($ 6,227) to deliberately become infected with coronavirus has received ethical approval in the UK
The study of the human challenge, the first of its kind in coronaviruses, will help identify the most effective vaccines and accelerate their development, the UK government said on Wednesday.
Human challenge studies, which have been used successfully in the past to develop vaccines against malaria and cholera, involve deliberately infecting volunteers to test the effectiveness of vaccines.
In this case, up to 90 healthy and carefully selected adult volunteers (ages 18 to 30) will be exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19 to help researchers understand how the virus infects people and how it is transmitted. Scientists also aim to establish the minimum amount of viruses needed to cause infection.
Read: President Joe Biden is trying to alleviate concerns about the pace of vaccination
Following this initial “virus characterization” study, several volunteers may be given a candidate vaccine, which has been shown to be safe in clinical trials, before being exposed to COVID-19.
“We hope these studies provide unique information about how the virus works and help us understand what promising vaccines offer the best chance of preventing infection,” said Dr. Clive Dix, interim chair of the government’s vaccine working group.
The UK achieved the goal of offering a first dose of vaccine to 15 million people in mid-February and aims to vaccinate everyone over the age of 50 by the end of April. Two vaccines developed by Pfizer PFE,
and BioNTech BNTX,
and AstraZeneca AZN,
and Oxford University are currently used in the UK launch. MRNA de Moderna,
the vaccine has also been given emergency use authorization and doses are expected to arrive before Easter (April 4).
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the study of the human challenge could “end up fostering the rapid development” of long-term vaccines.
“While there has been very positive progress in vaccine development, we want to find the best and most effective vaccines for long-term use,” he said. The study is being conducted by the government working group, Imperial College London, the Royal Free London National Health Service Foundation Trust and the Irish company Open Orphan’s ORPH,
hVivo branch.
The researchers will use the UK version of COVID-19 that has been circulating since March 2020 in the characterization study. The government said it has been shown to have “a low risk in healthy young adults”. Volunteers, who have been urged to enroll in the study, will be closely monitored by doctors and scientists 24 hours a day.
See also: The UK is reaching the target of vaccinating more than 15 million people who received the first shot
Professor Terence Stephenson, chair of the Health Research Authority, whose ethics committee approved the trial, said: “The sum is about £ 4,500, but that covers the initial stay and follow-up. “, according to various media reports.
Open Orphans CEO Cathal Friel told MarketWatch that the amount of compensation was set by the ethics panel, which reflects an appropriate amount for two weeks of quarantine. Volunteers from human challenge studies are usually paid £ 3,500, he said, adding that it would not be unusual to expect a small amount higher than that of a COVID-19 study.
Earlier this month a trial was launched in the UK to assess whether vaccines other than the first and second doses could be given. If the study shows that the combination and the combination of vaccines provide the same or better protection, it can prevent possible supply problems in the coming months. As the UK continues to vaccinate those under 70, it should also give second doses in the coming weeks to those who have already had the first.