It worked: in the United States conducted the first preclinical trials of a vaccine from COVID-19

Scientists from Pittsburgh intend to conduct a series of experiments, and then obtain permission from the authorities for clinical trials on volunteers.

The first preclinical trials of a new type of coronavirus vaccine were successfully conducted by doctors from the United States. The results of their work are published in the scientific journal EBioMedicine.

The vaccine forces laboratory mice to produce antibodies to the coronavirus COVID-19: according to one of the authors of the study, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh Andrea Gambotto, this was possible thanks to the experience of specialists working with SARS SARS viruses and Middle Eastern fever MERS.

“Both of these pathogens are relatives of SARS-CoV-2 (…). Therefore, we can say that we knew in advance how to deal with the new virus,” the scientist said.

According to him, many experts have chosen a “new approach unproven in terms of effectiveness” (it is based on RNA fragments of the virus). A group of scientists in Pittsburgh preferred a proven and more laborious way: developing fragments of a protein common to the aforementioned diseases, due to which the virus appears in the human body.

Researchers have grown cells that produce large amounts of this protein, and used a patch with nano-needles to test its performance in laboratory mice. According to scientists, two weeks after the vaccine got into the body of rodents, their immunity began to produce antibodies, which turned out to be enough to attach to the virus particles and neutralize them.

It is also noted that the mice were not infected with real coronavirus, but past experiments with the MERS Middle Eastern fever vaccine have shown that it remains effective throughout the year.

In the near future, scientists from Pittsburgh intend to conduct a series of experiments, and then obtain permission from the authorities for clinical trials on volunteers: so researchers can create the “first practically applicable” vaccine against COVID-19.