Novavax biotechnology company began testing COVID-19 vaccine to humans in the cities of Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia, on Tuesday (26/05). If successful, the vaccine will be released later this year. Novavax Inc. is starting a phase 1 clinical trial on humans of a new corona vaccine candidate and has registered the first trial participant, with preliminary results coming out in July.
The biotechnology company based in Maryland, United States (US) said in April that the corona virus vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373, would use Matrix-M aids to improve the immune response. The company from the United States is testing vaccine safety to 131 volunteers to ensure its effectiveness in dealing with the corona virus.
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| The aids are mainly for making vaccines induce a strong immune response, including through the production of greater antibodies, and provide more durable protection against viral infections as well as bacteria. According to the head of Novavax's research, Dr. Gregory Glenn, his party in parallel made this vaccine in the hope that it could cure the corona virus. |
"We hope the vaccine can be used by the end of this year," said Dr. Glenn in a virtual press conference in Melbourne, from his office in Maryland, United States. Novavax hopes that the initial immunogenicity and safety results from the trial of their artificial corona virus vaccine will come out in July. Novavax's announcement came as drug makers stopped clinical trials of vaccines for other diseases and raced to find an antidote to Covid-19, a disease caused by the new corona virus.
Novavax said, after successfully completing phase 1, phase 2 clinical trials of the corona virus vaccine will be carried out in several countries, including the US. "Phase 2 trials will assess the immunity, safety and reduction of Covid-19 disease over a wider age range," Novavax said in a statement on Monday (5/25).
"The vaccine is a miracle and is able to protect the population from this chronic disease. I am very optimistic that it can be realized here," he said. Developing a vaccine to treat the Sars-CoV-2 corona virus has many challenges and so far nothing has worked in humans.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH
The vaccine being tested in Melbourne is currently selected from a group of 30 potential existing vaccines. At present, of the hundreds of institutions that develop the COVID-19 vaccine, only a dozen have reached the human trials, namely in China, the United States and Europe.
It is not yet known whether each of these trials will be safe and effective, because they carry out vaccine development in different ways. Questions about the Corona Virus We answer questions about the corona virus: Is Australia ready for the second wave of corona virus? What is the explanation behind the death rate in Indonesia? Who is the first patient to change the life of the world? Duplicating corona virus protein
Most trials aim to train the human immune system in recognizing proteins that bind to the outer surface of the corona virus, preparing the body to react if it has an actual infection.
Some use the genetic code of the viral protein.
In addition, the development of vaccines is also done by using harmless viruses to get information about viral proteins. While other trials in the form of developing a more prevalent vaccine, which comes from a virus that has died.
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The Novavax trial added a new method called the recombinant vaccine. They use genetic engineering to grow harmless duplications of the corona virus protein in the laboratory.
The protein is extracted and purified, then packaged into virus-sized nano particles. The clinical research organization 'Nucleus Network' was appointed to carry out testing of the vaccine, named NVX-CoV2373.
Participants were 131 healthy people aged between 18 and 59 years. Novavax received US $ 388 million dollars from an epidemic agency in Norway to develop this vaccine.
Previously, Novavax had tested this vaccine on animals and showed success with low doses. Is COVID-19 Policy Based on Science? Is COVID-19 Policy Based on Science? A number of scientists in Indonesia feel they are not involved by the government when making decisions to deal with the corona virus.
WHO cancels chloroquine trial for COVID-19 patients
In other developments, the World Health Organization (WHO) has canceled testing of chloroquine (or hydroxychloroquine) malaria hydroxy drugs in COVID-19 patients for safety reasons.
This was conveyed by the WHO Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, after referring to research that said this drug had a risk to the patient's heart and could cause death.
This drug was praised by US President Donald Trump and a number of other leaders as an effective drug for COVID-19.
Medical workers expressed their frustration at the condition of handling the corona virus pandemic.
Trump even claimed to have used the drug to prevent infection, although he later said he had stopped taking it.
WHO recommends that you do not use hydroxychloroquine to treat or prevent corona virus infection, except as part of clinical trials.
Other drugs that are currently also being tested for COVID-19 patients include remdesivir and HIV combination therapy. Although President Trump boasted about the chloroquine drug, authorities in the US drug problem have warned of deadly side effects if the drug is used in addition to treating malaria.
WHO canceled the hydroxychloroquine trial in COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile Dr Michael Ryan, WHO's emergency director, said it was discussing scientific investigations about animal origins from corona virus disease with the Chinese government.
Dr Ryan claimed to be satisfied with China's consistency in applying openness to this issue. President Trump has always criticized WHO which he called the Chinese accomplices in handling the COVID-19 outbreak. He said the virus originated from a laboratory in Wuhan city, but this claim was denied by the Chinese government.