Article content
A breakthrough report was published by scientists from Pittsburgh. This week they announced that they tested a potential vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, and with a result that is hopeful for the world.
In mice the vaccine did work — it produced a quantity of antibodies effective against this virus.
There were enough antibodies to neutralize the virus.
The authors, cited by the professional journal EBioMedicine, were able to prepare the vaccine so quickly mainly because they built on the foundations they had worked on during earlier coronavirus epidemics.
„We had experience with SARS from 2003 and MERS from 2014. These two viruses, which are very close to the new coronavirus, taught us that in the immune response to the virus one specific protein is important – the so-called S (Spike) protein,“ said co-author Andrea Gambotto.
„It shows how important it is to fund vaccine research. You never know where the next pandemic will emerge,“ he added. The vaccine is being developed under the name PittCoVacc (Pittsburgh Coronavirus Vaccine). It differs from another experimental vaccine that has entered clinical trial phases in that it is more conservative, using established procedures to boost the body’s immunity against a specific virus. It is therefore in principle similar to how current flu vaccines work.
Needles of sugar and protein
„What is groundbreaking is the device by which the substance is delivered into the body: it is an array of four hundred tiny needles that can deliver “S“ protein into the skin and are made of sugar and protein”
They then dissolve in the body. “We built on measles vaccine research in this, but our high-tech version is more effective and painless,“ the scientists said.
Mass production and distribution should not be a problem. In tests on laboratory mice the vaccine was able to generate antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus already within two weeks after vaccination.
So far it is not clear how long the immune response will last.
The scientists believe it could be about 12 months. The study authors now want to ask U.S. authorities for permission to test the vaccine on humans. This could begin within just a few months, especially due to the extraordinary situation.
