In race for a coronavirus vaccine, an Oxford group leaps ahead

In the worldwide race for a vaccine to stop the coronavirus, the laboratory sprinting fastest is at Oxford University.

Most other teams have had to start with small clinical trials of a few hundred participants to demonstrate safety. But scientists at the university’s Jenner Institute had a head start on a vaccine, having proved in previous trials that similar inoculations — including one last year against an earlier coronavirus — were harmless to humans.

That has enabled them to leap ahead and schedule tests of their new coronavirus vaccine involving more than 6,000 people by the end of next month, hoping to show not only that it is safe but also that it works.

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The Oxford scientists now say that with an emergency approval from regulators, the first few million doses of their vaccine could be available by September — at least several months ahead of any of the other announced efforts — if it proves to be effective.

Now, they have received promising news suggesting that it might.

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Scientists at the National Institutes of Health’s Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Montana last month inoculated six rhesus macaque monkeys with single doses of the Oxford vaccine. The animals were then exposed to heavy quantities of the virus that is causing the pandemic — exposure that had consistently sickened other monkeys in the lab. But more than 28 days later all six were healthy, said Vincent Munster, the researcher who conducted the test.

“The rhesus macaque is pretty much the closest thing we have to humans,” Munster said, noting that scientists were still analyzing the result. He said he expected to share it with other scientists next week and then submit it to a peer-reviewed journal.

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A Chinese company that recently started a clinical trial with 144 participants, SinoVac, has also said that its vaccine was effective in rhesus macaques. But with dozens of efforts now underway to find a vaccine, the monkey results are the latest indication that Oxford’s accelerated venture is emerging as a bellwether.

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“It is a very, very fast clinical program,” said Emilio Emini, a director of the vaccine program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is providing financial support to many competing efforts.

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Chomsky said:

Source: (Chicago Tribune) In race for a coronavirus vaccine, an Oxford group leaps ahead

I posted quite a few excerpts, as this article has a lot of content. It is not a technical read, but rather is colloquial & well organized in presenting the Oxford Trial in larger context. I recommend reading the full article, if you've got a few minutes.

So, why would I start a thread on yet another so-called "promising" vaccine? Because this vaccine is based upon one that has been previously clinically demonstrated to be safe, and there is immediate production available to produce 1M doses.

Due to the previous safety record, the vaccine has been green-lighted by the U.K. NHS for accelerated large scale human trials. 1,100 will be vaccinated immediately, 5,000 next month. And the production of 1M immediate doses will begin in September. If all goes well, of course.

Amongst others, they (Oxford) are already negotiating with North American manufacturers. But they refuse to give exclusive licensing, which apparently is what the North American companies are demanding. If this comes to fruition, let's hope these details get worked out. Apparently the U.S. exclusive licensing demands is what stopped our government from using the German WHO test, causing it to idevelop our own CDC test, which as we now know was defective, limited, and detrimental to our response.

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Ikari said:

It would be great if a vaccine can be developed and tested quickly enough to get it out fast so we can put a lid on this crisis. Godspeed.

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Chomsky said:

Source: (Chicago Tribune) In race for a coronavirus vaccine, an Oxford group leaps ahead

I posted quite a few excerpts, as this article has a lot of content. It is not a technical read, but rather is colloquial & well organized in presenting the Oxford Trial in larger context. I recommend reading the full article, if you've got a few minutes.

So, why would I start a thread on yet another so-called "promising" vaccine? Because this vaccine is based upon one that has been previously clinically demonstrated to be safe, and there is immediate production available to produce 1M doses.

Due to the previous safety record, the vaccine has been green-lighted by the U.K. NHS for accelerated large scale human trials. 1,100 will be vaccinated immediately, 5,000 next month. And the production of 1M immediate doses will begin in September. If all goes well, of course.

Amongst others, they (Oxford) are already negotiating with North American manufacturers. But they refuse to give exclusive licensing, which apparently is what the North American companies are demanding. If this comes to fruition, let's hope these details get worked out. Apparently the U.S. exclusive licensing demands is what stopped our government from using the German WHO test, causing it to idevelop our own CDC test, which as we now know was defective, limited, and detrimental to our response.

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Grand Mal said:

More good news! First New Zealand, now this!
Substantial good news too, not just hints from bar graphs. Any more today and I'll be positively giddy!

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swing_voter said:

Better the British develop a vaccine first than the Chinese.

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Kreton said:

at this point - it doesn't matter. I care that it is developed not by who.

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Lovebug said:

Great news that deserves an extra prayer for God's blessings.
Once in production, we have to make sure to vaccinate those on the front lines first.

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swing_voter said:

If I had to pick.

I would pick the British over the Chinese.

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