RE: Website updated Grant applications!22 May 2020 18:27
China’s CanSino Biologics has released results from the Phase I trial of its Covid-19 vaccine — data that have propelled its entry into Phase II more than a month ago.
In a paper published in the Lancet, the biotech reported that their adenovirus-based vaccine was “tolerable and immunogenic at 28 days post-vaccination” among the 195 volunteers enrolled in the trial. In addition to antibody responses, T cell responses were also observed.
“Humoral responses against SARS-CoV-2 peaked at day 28 post-vaccination in healthy adults, and rapid specific T-cell responses were noted from day 14 post-vaccination,” the researchers wrote.
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The most common adverse reactions were fever, fatigue, headache and muscle pain.
The publication followed a promising snapshot from Moderna on its mRNA vaccine candidate, although the US biotech didn’t break down the numbers.
Like Moderna, CanSino has dropped the highest dose and will be comparing the low and middle doses with placebo in Phase II. People over the age of 60, who weren’t eligible for the first-in-human study, were also enrolled.
The CanSino candidate employs a recombinant adenovirus type-5 (Ad5) vector to encapsulate a SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein to elicit an immune response — a technology they’ve previously used to develop an Ebola vaccine.
Toward the end of what otherwise reads like a usual scientific paper, the scientists made note of the urgency their work carries:
Many vaccine candidates are in rapid development, including recombinant-protein based vaccines, replicating or non-replicating viral vector-based vaccines, DNA vaccines, and mRNA vaccines (which mostly have focused on the spike glycoprotein or receptor binding domain), live attenuated vaccines, and inactivated virus vaccines. All of these vaccine platforms have advantages and disadvantages, and it is too soon to predict which will be more successful.
The study was conducted in Wuhan, ground zero of the global pandemic, in March and April.