A small dose of the candidate COVID-19 vaccine developed by Imperial College London researchers was delivered to the first healthy volunteer, the team said on Tuesday, 23 June.
The volunteer, who wishes to remain anonymous, is being closely monitored and is reported to be in good health with no safety concerns.
This is also the first time that a new self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) technology for vaccine development would be tested. This particular candidate has undergone ‘rigorous’ preclinical safety tests and animal studies before being administered to the participant.
Dr Katrina Pollock from Imperial’s Department of Infectious Disease and Chief Investigator of the study, was quoted in the Imperial College report as saying,
The volunteer will be given a second ‘booster’ dose within four weeks, and many other participants are expected to follow in the coming days. They will all be given the vaccine and be monitored for their safety as well as to see whether they produce antibodies against the novel coronavirus.
As part of the initial stage of the trial, 15 healthy volunteers will receive a low dose of the vaccine, and higher doses will be given to subsequent participants in order to assess the ideal dosage. In all, 300 people are expected to receive two doses of the candidate vaccine.
If the vaccine turns out to be safe and reveals promising immune response within volunteers, then large-scale trials will be planned later this year.
Professor Robin Shattock, from the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial and who is leading the work, said, "The first participant marks an important step for our saRNA vaccine platform, which has never before been trialled in humans.
"We now eagerly await rapid recruitment to the trial so that we can assess both the safety of the vaccine and its ability to produce neutralising antibodies which would indicate an effective response against COVID-19. I look forward to our progress in the coming months,” he added.
The vaccine is being developed and trialled with the support and funding from the UK government as well as philanthropic donations.
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