Treyfish
Moderator
Vaccine tests in China protected monkeys from coronavirus
The study was limited, however, both in scope and translatability to humans.
by Fermin Koop
April 24, 2020
More than 2.6 million people around the world have so far been infected with the coronavirus. As it expands, all hopes are on creating a vaccine, with trials currently taking place in different parts of the world.
In China, researchers at Sinovac Biotech, a private company based in Beijing, have successfully protected monkeys with a coronavirus vaccine. It’s the first time that a trial has worked on an animal and will now be followed by trials in humans.
The team gave two different doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to eight rhesus macaque monkeys. Three weeks later, the group introduced SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, into the monkeys’ lungs but none developed a full-blown infection.
The monkeys that were given the highest dose of vaccine had the best response. A week after receiving the virus, researchers could not detect it in the pharynx or lungs of any of them. Some of the lower dosed animals had a “viral blip” but also appeared to have controlled the infection.
Despite the limited scale of trial — only a few monkeys were part of it, — Meng Weining, Sinovac’s senior director for overseas regulatory affairs, told Science Magazine that the results “give us a lot of confidence” that the vaccine will work in humans....:tiphat:https://www.zmescience.com/science/c...covid-9252342/
The study was limited, however, both in scope and translatability to humans.
by Fermin Koop
April 24, 2020
More than 2.6 million people around the world have so far been infected with the coronavirus. As it expands, all hopes are on creating a vaccine, with trials currently taking place in different parts of the world.
In China, researchers at Sinovac Biotech, a private company based in Beijing, have successfully protected monkeys with a coronavirus vaccine. It’s the first time that a trial has worked on an animal and will now be followed by trials in humans.
The team gave two different doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to eight rhesus macaque monkeys. Three weeks later, the group introduced SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, into the monkeys’ lungs but none developed a full-blown infection.
The monkeys that were given the highest dose of vaccine had the best response. A week after receiving the virus, researchers could not detect it in the pharynx or lungs of any of them. Some of the lower dosed animals had a “viral blip” but also appeared to have controlled the infection.
Despite the limited scale of trial — only a few monkeys were part of it, — Meng Weining, Sinovac’s senior director for overseas regulatory affairs, told Science Magazine that the results “give us a lot of confidence” that the vaccine will work in humans....:tiphat:https://www.zmescience.com/science/c...covid-9252342/