RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Scientists from several countries are racing to find a vaccine or drug to fight the novel coronavirus, which has already caused almost 340,000 deaths worldwide. As time moves on, good news on progress starts coming in. Last week, several research studies on vaccines or drugs for Covid-19 have reported significant developments.
One of these, from Oxford University, is recruiting 10,000 volunteers for human trials, including children and the elderly. Another initiative in China has had promising results reported in a study published in the renowned scientific journal The Lancet. The vaccine was tested on 108 people. Another research, involving three European and one American institute, found an antibody capable of neutralizing the virus.
The following are five major scientific advances in the search for drugs or vaccines against the novel coronavirus:
Oxford extends Covid-19 vaccine trials to children and the elderly
On Friday, May 22nd, Oxford University announced that it will include children and the elderly among the more than 10,000 volunteers it has started recruiting for the second stage of human clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine.
The age range of people to be tested for the vaccine will thus be extended from the first stage to include groups aged 56-69, people over 70, and 5-12, the center announced.
“The clinical trials are progressing very well,” said Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford vaccine group, quoted in a statement.
China’s new vaccine increases protection against coronavirus
Developed by Chinese researchers, a new Covid-19 vaccine project has produced promising results as reported in a study published in the renowned scientific journal The Lancet. The vaccine was tested on 108 people, split into three groups, and produced a “significant” increase of antibodies against the novel coronavirus, according to the researchers.
The study is signed by 21 Chinese researchers and provides information on both safety and improved immunity of the body against Covid-19, based on tests conducted on human patients. No severe reaction was reported by most patients.
The number of antibodies against the novel coronavirus increased in vaccinated patients after 14 days and peaked after 28 days.
New vaccine protects monkeys against coronavirus
Researchers have found that a vaccine is effective in protecting monkeys from infection by the novel coronavirus, which causes Covid-19 disease.
The research, published in Science magazine, shows that it is possible to develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus that will work for humans.
The study was carried out in partnership with American pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson and was conducted by researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. The aim was to analyze how the coronavirus affects monkeys and whether it would be possible to develop a vaccine to protect them from infection.
Researchers find an antibody that fights novel coronavirus
Scientists have found an antibody that can neutralize the novel coronavirus and also SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), a virus belonging to the coronavirus family. The finding was published in Nature scientific journal.
It is yet another hope in the race to neutralize the coronavirus. In total, almost 200 drugs and 100 vaccines are being tested to fight the novel coronavirus. While a vaccine is not developed, finding medicine is the best hope for reducing mortality and expediting treatment.
The antibody study disclosed in Nature is called S309. It was discovered by a team of researchers from three European and American institutes in a blood sample from a patient who recovered from SARS, a virus that was controlled in 2004.
Chinese laboratory believes it can stop the pandemic “without a vaccine”
Chinese researchers say they have developed a treatment that could stop the Covid-19 pandemic, while a hundred laboratories around the world are competing to produce a vaccine against the novel coronavirus.
A drug being tested at the prestigious University of Beijing would not only speed up patients’ cure but also temporarily immunize them against Covid-19.
In an interview with AFP, Sunney Xie, director of the Beida Center for Advanced Genomics Innovation, explained that the treatment works on mice.
His laboratory has extracted antibodies from 60 cured patients and injected them into rodents.
Source: Exame