Oxford COVID vaccine safe, induces immune response: Scientists

LONDON: A coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford appears safe and induces a strong immune response within the body, scientists announced on Monday after the first phase of “promising” human trials against the deadly disease that has infected over 1.45 crore people and claimed more than six lakh lives across the world.
Doses of the vaccine were given to 1,077 healthy adults aged between 18 and 55 in five UK hospitals in April and May as part of the phase one clinical trial and results, published in the ‘Lancet’ medical journal.
The results show they induced strong antibody and T-cell immune responses for up to 56 days after they were given. T-cells are crucial for maintaining protection against the virus for years.
The findings are seen as promising, but experts feel it is too soon to know if this is enough to offer protection as larger trials get underway. “There is still much work to be done before we can confirm if our vaccine will help manage the COVID-19 pandemic, but these early results hold promise,” said Professor Sarah Gilbert, co-author of the study.
“As well as continuing to test our vaccine in phase 3 trials, we need to learn more about the virus — for example, we still do not know how strong an immune response we need to provoke to effectively protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection. If our vaccine is effective, it is a promising option as these types of vaccine can be manufactured at large scale,” she said.
Scientists behind the trials found the response could be even greater after a second dose.
“The Phase I/II data for our coronavirus vaccine shows that the vaccine did not lead to any unexpected reactions and had a similar safety profile to previous vaccines of this type.
“The immune responses observed following vaccination are in line with what previous animal studies have shown are associated with protection against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, although we must continue with our rigorous clinical trial programme to confirm this in humans,” said Professor Andrew Pollard, Chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial and co-author of the study. “We saw the strongest immune response in the 10 participants who received two doses of the vaccine, indicating that this might be a good strategy for vaccination,” he said.
The University of Oxford is working with the UK-based global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for the further development, large-scale manufacture and potential distribution of the COVID -19 vaccine, with plans for clinical development and production of the Oxford vaccine progressing globally.
“We are encouraged by the Phase I/II interim data showing AZD1222 was capable of generating a rapid antibody and T-cell response against SARS-CoV-2,” said Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President of BioPharmaceuticals Research and Development at AstraZeneca.
Serum to apply for local trials in a week: CEO
With the trials of COVID-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University showing encouraging results, Serum Institute of India (SII) on Monday said it will apply for licence from the Indian regulator to start clinical trials of the shot in a week’s time.
SII, the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, has been chosen by Oxford and its partner AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine once it gets ready.
Earlier, Pune-based SII had said that it will start manufacturing the vaccine even before the final nod so as to be ready with sizeable volumes once the vaccine gets all permissions.
“The trials have shown promising results and we are extremely happy about it. We will be applying for the licensure trials to the Indian regulator in a week’s time. As soon as they grant us permission, we will begin with the trials for the vaccine in India. “In addition, we will soon start manufacturing the vaccine in large volumes,” SII Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla said. (Agencies)