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Start of trial of Covid vaccine without needles in the UK

Start of trial of Covid vaccine without needles in the UK

The vaccine technology was developed by a University of Cambridge professor and DIOSynVa. (Represent)

London:

Scientists at Cambridge University on Tuesday began clinical trials of a needle-free, air-powered vaccine that is expected to help fight future variants of COVID-19.

Developed by Professor Jonathan Heeney at the University of Cambridge and the company in charge of DIOSynVax, the new DIOSvax technology, dubbed the next-generation coronavirus vaccine, is delivered through an air stream that delivers the dose into the skin.

It offers a possible future alternative for people who are afraid of needles and, if successful, it could be expanded and manufactured in powder form to advance global immunization efforts, in particular. are in low- and middle-income countries.

“The response of the scientific and medical communities to the development and delivery of a COVID-19 vaccine has been astounding, but as new variants emerge and immunity begins to wane,” said Heeney. weak, we need newer technologies.”

“It is important that we continue to develop next-generation vaccine candidates that are ready to help keep us safe from the next viral threats. Our vaccines are innovative, both in terms of health and safety. how it initiates the immune system to respond to a broader protective response to the coronavirus, and how it is delivered I am developing, protecting us not only from COVID-19 variants but also from future coronaviruses,” he said.

The first volunteer will receive the vaccine this week at the NIHR Clinical Research Facility Southampton.

The COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 virus uses the “spike” proteins on its surface to enter host cells. These proteins bind to ACE2, a protein receptor on the surface of cells in our airways, allowing the virus to release its genetic material. material into the host cell. The virus attacks the host cell’s machinery to replicate and spread itself.

Vaccines tell our bodies how dangerous infections are and how to deal with them. This is much safer than getting infected with a live virus, as it avoids the life-threatening effects that a whole virus can have.

Immunizations help our immune systems find and block viruses or destroy cells that carry mutated proteins, protecting us from COVID-19. Unfortunately, SARS-CoV-2 is constantly mutating, and the virus’s spike protein itself is changing. This raises the prospect of “vaccine escape,” where changes to the mutated protein mean the immune system is no longer able to recognize it.

To get around this, the Cambridge University team looked for new antigens – key regions of the virus – that are similar to coronaviruses found in nature, including in animals that carry them, such as bat.

While most COVID-19 vaccines use RNA sequencing for the virus’ mutant protein from the first isolates of the COVID-19 virus in January 2020, the new DIOSvax technology uses methods Predictive methods for encoding antigens such as mutant proteins mimic the broader family of coronavirus antigens, thus potentially providing broader protection.

Professor Heeney explained: “The DIOS-CoVax vaccine targets elements of the viral structure common to all known ‘beta-coronaviruses’ – those coronaviruses that pose the greatest disease threat to These are structures that are extremely important to the life cycle of the virus. , which means we can be confident that they are unlikely to change in the future.”

“These next-generation DIOSvax vaccines will protect us against the variants we’ve seen so far – alpha, beta, delta variants, for example – and hopefully we can fight those. emerging variants and future coronavirus pandemics.”

Funding for the needle-free trial and vaccine is provided by Innovate UK, part of the UK’s Research and Innovation network.

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)

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