Covid-19 vaccine: Oxford University to start human trials from today

Oxford University will start human testing with a Covid-19 vaccine they developed from Thursday, the UK government said in a coronavirus press conference.

The Oxford team – led by Professor Sarah Gilbert,  is testing ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, a candidate based on a chimpanzee adenovirus modified to include the spike or ‘S’ protein on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

The government funded the vaccine project with 20 million pounds to Oxford University and another 22 million pounds to a second vaccine project at Imperial College, London, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday, adding the project will help support phase 2 trials and help prepare for a larger phase 3 study.

Hancock said a vaccine is the "best way" to defeat the virus and the bring the number of cases down in the country.

He said the UK government is committed to provide financial support to build manufacturing capacity for vaccines if they prove effective in clinical testing.

The testing came as the death toll from coronavirus in the UK crossed the 18,000 mark. The global toll has already crossed 184,000
 

The vaccine will be tested on around 500 volunteers and will focus on safety and tolerability, as well as providing an initial assessment of how effective the shot is.

The Imperial candidate has been developed by a team led by Professor Robin Shattock and is an mRNA vaccine against the S protein on SARS-CoV-2 – using a similar approach to a vaccine developed by US biotech Moderna which is already in clinical trials.

“Both of these promising projects are making rapid progress and I've told the scientists leading them we will do everything in our power to support them,” said Hancock.