MESSAGE
| DATE | 2020-03-27 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] vaccination might be closer than we think
|
https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-scientists-In-three-weeks-we-will-have-coronavirus-vaccine-619101
Israeli scientists: 'In a few weeks, we will have coronavirus vaccine'
Once the vaccine is developed, it will take at least 90 days to complete
the regulatory process and potentially more to enter the marketplace.
By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN MARCH 15, 2020 14:18
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MIGAL researchers working vigorously to find a new coronavirus vaccine
(photo credit: LIOR JOURNO)
MIGAL researchers working vigorously to find a new coronavirus vaccine
(photo credit: LIOR JOURNO)
Israeli scientists are on the cusp of developing the first vaccine
against the novel coronavirus, according to Science and Technology
Minister Ofir Akunis. If all goes as planned, the vaccine could be ready
within a few weeks and available in 90 days, according to a release.
“Congratulations to MIGAL [The Galilee Research Institute] on this
exciting breakthrough,” Akunis said. “I am confident there will be
further rapid progress, enabling us to provide a needed response to the
grave global COVID-19 threat,” Akunis said, referring to the disease
caused by the novel coronavirus.
For the past four years, a team of MIGAL scientists has been developing
a vaccine against infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), which causes a
bronchial disease affecting poultry. The effectiveness of the vaccine
has been proven in preclinical trials carried out at the Veterinary
Institute.
MIGAL is located in the Galilee.
“Our basic concept was to develop the technology and not specifically a
vaccine for this kind or that kind of virus,” said Dr. Chen Katz,
MIGAL’s biotechnology group leader. “The scientific framework for the
vaccine is based on a new protein expression vector, which forms and
secretes a chimeric soluble protein that delivers the viral antigen into
mucosal tissues by self-activated endocytosis, causing the body to form
antibodies against the virus.”
MIGAL laboratory (Photo Credit: Lior Journo)MIGAL laboratory (Photo
Credit: Lior Journo)
Endocytosis is a cellular process in which substances are brought into a
cell by surrounding the material with cell membrane, forming a vesicle
containing the ingested material.
In preclinical trials, the team demonstrated that the oral vaccination
induces high levels of specific anti-IBV antibodies, Katz said.
“Let’s call it pure luck,” he said. “We decided to choose coronavirus as
a model for our system just as a proof of concept for our technology.”
But after scientists sequenced the DNA of the novel coronavirus causing
the current worldwide outbreak, the MIGAL researchers examined it and
found that the poultry coronavirus has high genetic similarity to the
human one, and that it uses the same infection mechanism, which
increases the likelihood of achieving an effective human vaccine in a
very short period of time, Katz said.
“All we need to do is adjust the system to the new sequence,” he said.
“We are in the middle of this process, and hopefully in a few weeks we
will have the vaccine in our hands. Yes, in a few weeks, if it all
works, we would have a vaccine to prevent coronavirus.”
MIGAL would be responsible for developing the new vaccine, but it would
then have to go through a regulatory process, including clinical trials
and large-scale production, Katz said.
Akunis said he has instructed his ministry’s director-general to
fast-track all approval processes with the goal of bringing the human
vaccine to market as quickly as possible.
“Given the urgent global need for a human coronavirus vaccine, we are
doing everything we can to accelerate development,” MIGAL CEO David
Zigdon said. The vaccine could “achieve safety approval in 90 days,” he
said.
It will be an oral vaccine, making it particularly accessible to the
general public, Zigdon said.
“We are currently in intensive discussions with potential partners that
can help accelerate the in-human trials phase and expedite completion of
final-product development and regulatory activities,” he said.
--
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