UK to host human challenge trials for COVID-19 vaccines

▴ uk-host-human-challenge-trials-covid19-vaccines
So-called "challenge trials" are expected to begin in January at a quarantine facility in London, the report said.

Britain is planning to host clinical trials where volunteers are deliberately infected with the new coronavirus to test the effectiveness of vaccine candidates, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people involved in the project.
So-called "challenge trials" are expected to begin in January at a quarantine facility in London, the report said, adding that about 2,000 participants had signed up through a U.S.-based advocacy group, 1Day Sooner.

The studies will be government-funded, the FT reported, although 1Day Sooner said it would also launch a petition for public funding of a biocontainment facility big enough to quarantine 100 to 200 participants.

Imperial College London, reportedly the academic lead on the trials, did not confirm the studies.

"Imperial continues to engage in a wide range of exploratory discussions relating to COVID-19 research, with a variety of partners. We have nothing further to report at this stage," a spokeswoman said, asked about the possibility of challenge trials.

Any trials conducted in the United Kingdom have to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the healthcare regulator which looks into safety and protocol.

The UK government and the MHRA did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment, but 1Day Sooner, which lobbies for challenge trials to accelerate vaccine development, welcomed the report.

"1Day Sooner congratulates the British government on their plans to conduct challenge trials to test vaccines," it said in a statement, confirming it would petition the government to house the trial participants.

The industry has seen discussions in recent months about potentially having to inject healthy volunteers with the novel coronavirus if drugmakers struggled to find enough patients for final trials.

The FT report said that volunteers would first be inoculated with a vaccine and later receive a challenge dose of the coronavirus. It did not name the vaccines that would be assessed in the project.

British drugmaker AstraZeneca, and French firm Sanofi both told Reuters that their vaccine candidates were not involved in the program.

Tags : #UK #Host #COVID-19 #Vaccines #Humanchallenges

Related Stories

Loading Please wait...

-Advertisements-




Trending Now

A New Dawn for Eye Health in Obesity: How Bariatric Surgery Repairs Early Eye DamageDecember 14, 2024
Healing Invisible Wounds: How Indian Government’s Bold Initiatives Are Tackling the Mental Health CrisisDecember 14, 2024
The 8-Hour Miracle: Here’s How Doctors Rewrote a Young Girl’s FateDecember 14, 2024
University of Manchester invites applications for MSc Climate Change: Science, Society and Solutions December 13, 2024
Pollution vs. Population: Can India Survive Its Toxic Air?December 13, 2024
New Milestone: First Cryopreserved Stem Cell Donation Helps Blood Cancer Patient December 13, 2024
Everest Medicines Announces the First Prescription of VELSIPITY(R) Issued in MacauDecember 13, 2024
Plastic Pollution Goes Personal: Microplastics Found in Human BloodDecember 12, 2024
The Fat-Fuelled Weapon Against Cancer: How the Keto Lifestyle is Redefining Cancer TherapyDecember 12, 2024
Gene Therapy in India: How Indian Scientists Redefined Hemophilia TreatmentDecember 12, 2024
Empowering India’s Workforce: FinX Raises $6M from Elevar Equity to revolutionise employability in the BFSI IndustryDecember 12, 2024
India’s Win Over Malaria: A Global Health Victory in ProgressDecember 11, 2024
TB-Free India by 2025: Bold Vision or Achievable Reality?December 11, 2024
Aakash Healthcare Supports the 14th Special Athletic Meet for Children with Special NeedsDecember 11, 2024
The University of Manchester invites applications for an MSc in International Disaster ManagementDecember 10, 2024
Preventing Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission: Strategies and ImportanceDecember 10, 2024
USIBC Signs MOU with Government of Telangana, Hosts AI and GCC Industry RoundtableDecember 10, 2024
CarDekho Group’s New Auto Segment’s Shift in Fuel Preferences Report: Electric Vehicles (EVs) Lead the Chart with 26% YoY Traffic Increase December 10, 2024
India’s leading eCommerce enablement platform Shiprocket appoints industry veteran Vivek Sharma as VP of International ShippingDecember 10, 2024
Failure to find all TB cases defeats us in #endTB effortsDecember 10, 2024