Oz scientists start clinical tests of 2 anti-virus vaccines

Melbourne, april 2

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Scientists in Australia said on Thursday they have begun testing two potential vaccines for COVID-19 in “milestone” lab trials.

Pre-clinical testing by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), comprising injecting ferrets with two potential vaccines, was underway at its high-containment biosecurity facility near Melbourne.

The first phase testing would take around three months, CSIRO’s director of health Rob Grenfell said, adding that any resulting vaccine would not be available to the public before late next year.

The scientists at CSIRO are also evaluating the best way to give the vaccine for better protection, including an intra-muscular injection and innovative approaches like a nasal spray.

“We have been studying SARS CoV-2 since January and getting ready to test the first vaccine candidates as soon as they are available,” Professor Trevor Drew, Director of Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) said in a statement.

“We are carefully balancing operating at speed with the critical need for safety in response to this global public health emergency,” he added.

The testing, expected to take three months, is underway at CSIRO’s high-containment biosecurity facility at AAHL, the researchers said.

To prepare for disease outbreaks, last year CSIRO partnered with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global group that aims to derail epidemics by speeding up the development of vaccines.

In consultation with the WHO, CEPI has identified vaccine candidates from the University of Oxford in the UK and Inovio Pharmaceuticals in the US to undergo the first pre-clinical trials at CSIRO. — Agencies

Race to find antidote

• Moderna Inc is the closest publicly known facility to human testing, announcing plans to start a trial in Seattle last month.
• The US government has cut deals with both Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, and is in talks with at least two other companies, to produce massive quantities of vaccines.
• Israel has begun testing a vaccine prototype on rodents at its bio-chemical defense laboratory,