Member Info for TorquayFan

Violin - Crumbs has gone missing and the poorer we are for that. I think these days he likes to read only, unless there's news ?

Apologies if posted before . . . "As placebo-controlled testing falls out of favour, vaccine developers eye blood markers and challenge trials to assess next-generation candidates" - here it's said that "230 2nd Gen vaccines (are) in development and about 60 being tested in humans".

The first paras - "Global health researchers breathed a collective sigh of relief last month after nations across Europe, North America and elsewhere issued emergency approvals of the first COVID-19 vaccines. But as the shots are rolled out, clinicians are scrambling to work out how to evaluate dozens of other, earlier-stage vaccine candidates. These could be less expensive, have fewer side effects or be easier to administer than those now in use — and they would bolster the world’s supply of COVID-19 immunizations, ensuring more rapid distribution to all countries.

The trouble is that finding would-be participants for placebo-controlled clinical trials has become more of a challenge. In these trials, half the volunteers receive a dummy shot and half the real thing, but neither participants nor researchers know who received which one until after the trial. People are less likely to chance receiving a placebo when they could get one of the various vaccines now authorized, two of which prevent COVID-19 with about 95% efficacy.

As it is, many people taking part in placebo-controlled trials have already asked to drop out to ensure that they get immunized." https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00015-0?

Violindog thanks again for your very much ON topic insights - the commitment and courage of you and your Colleagues is, as always, more than evident. To say, 'TCOY' might look a bit obvious at this time, but to add to that, you are surely in all our thoughts and we're rooting for you. 100%. Please tell us more if/when you can find the time.

RW post rec - this bears repeating, " Hands, face, space, disinfect, isolate, anything you can folks - stay safe and more cautious than ever. We all have a huge responsibility and individual caution can make a collective difference." Well said that Man !

Thanks Bunsie ATB too.

Ray a pint of vaccine should fix it ! Seriously though, this is great news - a vaccine barrier just can't come soon enough . . . .

Great news and J & J/ Janssen next ? The more the merrier !

"Britain today approved Moderna's coronavirus vaccine - but won't be able to get any of the 17million doses it has bought until March at the earliest. Moderna's Covid jab is the third to be given the green light by regulators in the UK, joining the vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford University/AstraZeneca. Health Secretary Matt Han**** admitted that No10 won't get any doses until the spring but said: 'This is further great news and another weapon in our arsenal to tame this awful disease.' And Business Secretary Alok Sharma described it as 'another huge step towards ending lockdown'. "

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9126141/Britain-approves-Modernas-Covid-vaccine.html

Hasiba the UK is under siege from CV-19 and variants - I totally passionately hope these preliminary reports of BioNTech/Pfizer and the virus variants proves to be correct - and that all the other 1st generation vaccines can do the same too ! Take care Guys and ATB

Absolutely Dragon - the linked script is clear that this is early data subject to peer review.

"BioNTech/Pfizer and virus variants" was the header to 08.05 - those words just introduce the subject, yet you refute thus, "Your Title implied that the BioNtech vaccine works against all known variants, unfortunately, that is not proven" - your comment is more than bizarre . . .

The title was correct and inside the link the subject matter is properly qualified therein.

I repeat, "Is there a nervousness that another vaccine (than Covidity) can/might cope with mutations of the virus so far? What's behind this attitude to the link I helpfully posted?"

And please, if you are going to quote Inan here next time, can you please attribute so?

You repeated a post elsewhere by Inan, without mentioning it's origin, and I am not quite sure why? That is, "Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech's (NASDAQ:BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine appears to work against a key mutation in the highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in the U.K. and South Africa, Reuters reports, citing a study by Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch." https://seekingalpha.com/news/3649824-pfizers-covid-vaccine-appears-to-work-on-variants-reuters?

Inside the link the headline comment is quite clearly qualified. I posted a link 08.05 and did not comment. Sorry, I don't get it - you posting as you did. Never mind.

Is there a nervousness that another vaccine can/might cope with mutations of the virus so far? What's behind this attitude to the link I helpfully posted? ATB

Liam - yes indeed. The CV-19 situation IS already very serious in most places and evenmoreso in London. May the force be with you ! ATB

"Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech's (NASDAQ:BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine appears to work against a key mutation in the highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in the U.K. and South Africa, Reuters reports, citing a study by Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch." https://seekingalpha.com/news/3649824-pfizers-covid-vaccine-appears-to-work-on-variants-reuters?

Thanks Cworld . . .

"Development of a potential DNA vaccine against COVID-19
Lead: Professor Lindy Durrant (University of Nottingham and Scancell)
The University of Nottingham is contributing essential virology expertise to develop a safe and effective vaccine to prevent COVID-19. Researchers will assist Scancell Holdings plc, a developer of novel immunotherapies for cancer treatment, to adapt its existing cancer vaccine platform for the development of a new vaccine. Virologists at the Centre for Research on Global Virus Infections have identified parts of the virus that may generate an immune response that will prevent future infection by the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/covid19-vaccine "

Hi and HNY. Re. your 19.12 one can't help being concerned about the probity of these goings on, but it's MO that such matters will be investigated in the fullness of time.

Thanks for the 18.15 'vimeo' with Sally Adams leading the way. I could be wrong but I think it's been posted before but never mind. IMO a strange format - it would have been better just to have a few participants but Sally comes over well enough. ATB

Thanks Ray - that makes perfect sense although I prefer the V.I.P. explanation. A tasty bit of blue and maybe an RNS today ? More blue coming anyway I hope.

If Prof. Lindy can get Covidity ready to trial, the portents are good. But I'm guessing the team are operating in constrained circumstances. Come on Scancell !

If I may say so RP a great link and good comments - the post will receive plenty of recs but this time I buttoned 3 ! How does that happen ? Anyway - thanks.

Bermuda to Inan over there 35676.

"Thanks for the various responses:-

1) Nucleic acid vaccines, whether they're mRNA or DNA work in very similar ways and BioNTech's mRNA vaccine also produces an adaptive immune response. One involves transfecting the DNA sequence encoding the selected antigens and the other mRNA, but both instruct your body to produce antigens and present them to your immune system and both trigger an adaptive immune response.

2) Have a read of the link below and hopefully you'll agree that Prof. Iwasaki is indeed a genuis, she also has a special interest in DNA vaccines and early in her career was responsible for a major breakthrough in understanding of how APCs function with DNA vaccines. So this really is her area of expertise and if she says she believes DNA vaccines can work as a boost to mRNA vaccines, then whether she's looked at Covidity or not, I'm inclined to accept that.

3) Hopefully you'll agree because surely it's a good thing if Covidity can provide the boost as well as the prime in a prime/boost regime?

Https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7062534/ "

The discussion continues over there - above my pay grade of course BUT interesting because it's sure that many (one day) who want to receive Covidity or another 2nd Gen vaccine, are likely to have already had a 1st Gen vaccine.

Prof. Iwasaki - another genius. (Scancell have one too !)

In the DT this morning - "Airlines flying into the UK will be required to bar passengers from boarding if they do not have a negative Covid test within 72 hours of departure. Every traveller coming into any UK port or airport will be expected to have a negative PCR test in order to enter the UK as part of a significant toughening of border controls. It will cover all countries, including those with travel corridors under which peoples are currently exempted from quarantine on arrival in the UK." A step in the right direction at last?

I confess to a 'bee in my bonnet' on this topic all along. I remember at the height of Wave 1, the ruling wisdom was that the levels of infection in the UK were so high that additional infections coming through the airports were insignificant - always a bizarre line of thought IMHO.

On top of a largely 'open borders' policy, I wonder how much summer holidays hastily taken to Spain, Italy and similar at the waning of Wave 1, has now contributed to a hard to control Wave 2. Reports throughout of very low adherence to 'voluntary quarantine' or 'self ISO' are relevant.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/05/exclusive-passengers-banned-boarding-flights-uk-without-negative/

Thanks Botski and Ray. I agree it's good to have SCIB2 back for in-house development, (if that is the case). SCIB2 doesn't seem to have advanced at all in years at CRUK and I remember how excited we were years ago when CRUK took SCIB2 over for development, so the 'move' is tinged with disappointment. However, we shouldn't expect progress any time soon because Scancell's team already have a massive workload and are under CV-19 impediments.

But with AvidiMab possibly to be included in it's armoury, SCIB2 is yet another amazing prospect. As mentioned frequently, Scancell needs powerful Partners to help matters along ?

Thanks Ruck. I'm so glad you already have the manufacturing and supply probems sorted, even before the trials are done ! So there might be two of that billion doses for me. Looking forward to it. ATB