Virus World

Researchers at the University of Duke found mRNA-based vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna, induce antibodies that may help fight against coronavirus variants.  The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are not only effective against COVID-19, but may also help prevent future pandemics. Researchers at Duke University came to this concluding after testing mRNA-based vaccines similar to the jabs used on lab monkeys. According to their findings, which were published in Nature this week, these variety of vaccines induced “broadly neutralizing” antibodies that appeared to protect against Sars-CoV-2—the infection that causes COVID-19—as well as potential variants of coronavirus that could jump from animal to human.  The findings may offer the public a sense of relief as many experts and epidemiologists say there’s a strong chance another pandemic will occur. In an effort to help prevent another outbreak, the team of Duke University researchers developed a pan-coronavirus vaccine that is protein-based rather than mRNA-based. The vaccine was tested on lab animals and showed promising results in fighting the original COVID-19 strain and other variants. Researchers said the vaccine also appeared to stop the virus from replicating in the lungs and nose, which could drastically reduce rates of transmission.

“We began this work last spring with the understanding that, like all viruses, mutations would occur in the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” the study’s senior author Barton F. Haynes, director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, said in a press release. “The mRNA vaccines were already under development, so we were looking for ways to sustain their efficacy once those variants appeared. This approach not only provided protection against SARS-CoV-2, but the antibodies induced by the vaccine also neutralized variants of concern that originated in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil. And the induced antibodies reacted with quite a large panel of coronaviruses.”  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert in infectious diseases, expressed optimism about Duke’s pan-coronavirus vaccine during a Thursday press conference, saying the next step was to get approval for human trials. “We always have to have a caveat when you’re dealing in a nonhuman primate,” he said, “nonetheless, this is an extremely important proof of concept that we will be aggressively pursuing as we get into the development of human trials,” Fauci said.

Cited study published in Nature (May 10, 2021):

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03594-0 

A team of UK scientists believe they are among the first to start animal testing of a vaccine for the new coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 1,000 people and spread around the world. Researchers at Imperial College London said their ultimate goal was to have an effective and safe way of halting the SARS-like strain's spread by the end of the year.

"At the moment we have just put the vaccine that we've generated from these bacteria into mice," Imperial College London researcher Paul McKay told AFP in an interview on Monday. "We're hoping that over the next few weeks we'll be able to determine the response that we can see in those mice, in their blood, their antibody response to the coronavirus." Scientists across the world are racing to develop a way to stamp out the new strain of a well-known virus that has been successfully combatted in the past. Imperial College London said it cannot be sure how advanced other teams' research is at the moment.

China's Xinhua state news agency cited a local news report as saying that a Shanghai university also injected a test vaccine into mice on Sunday. But the local report cited unnamed sources and there has been no official announcement about the Chinese tests. Britain has recorded eight cases of the virus and been forced to shut down two branches of a medical centre in the southeast city of Brighton where at least two staff members tested positive. But coming up with a vaccine is a laborious process that usually involves years of animal testing and clinal trials on humans.

Watchdogs expressed concern that Pfizer and BioNTech's recent vaccine supply deal with the U.S. could lead to price gouging on the final shot. The U.K. pumped $127 million into its vaccine manufacturing capacity, plus the EMA formed a multi-pronged COVID-19 research initiative. And the NIH will launch a suite of large-scale coronavirus therapeutics trials. 

With a new U.S. vaccine supply deal under their belts, Pfizer and BioNTech are taking heat from some watchdogs concerned that the partners' shot is overpriced—and worried by Pfizer's refusal to promise a no-profit vaccine. China's Sinopharm said its shot could release to the public before year's end; plus, the U.K. poured nearly $127 million into manufacturing "for any successful" COVID vaccine, approval pending. Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health is gearing up to launch a "flurry" of large-scale COVID-19 therapeutics trials, and the European Medicines Agency established a new coronavirus research initiative. 

Pfizer and BioNTech's $1.95 billion deal to supply 100 million vaccine doses to the U.S. drew ire from watchdogs, who warned that the move could lead to price-gouging later. The agreement includes an option for 500 million more doses at an as-yet-undetermined price. AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson both pledged to sell vaccines at no profit to the U.S.—which has shelled out funding for development in both cases—while Pfizer has expressed interest in making at least a marginal return on its shot.....