A biotech company in Burgess Hill has confirmed they could be trialling a new vaccine for Covid-19 in June. Stabilitech Biopharma, who develop a range of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals, is looking for an investment of £6million to fund the manufacturing of an oral coronavirus vaccine, and clinical trials.
They're aiming for a vaccine that can be self-administered and delivered through the post in the form of a capsule that can be swallowed.
Chairman Wayne Channon said: "Delivering a Covid-19 vaccine in the shortest time possible is only half the challenge, delivering a vaccine that works is more important. "Covid-19 infects the mucous membranes, or linings, of the ear, nose throat and lungs. "That is why we are targeting our vaccine to hit Covid-19 where it sits – in mucosal cells. "Other vaccines are currently only targeting the systemic immune system, but we know from our research that Covid -19 is a mucosal virus, therefore all vaccine developers should also be looking for a vaccine that targets both mucosal and systemic immunity. "This is what OraPro- COVID-19 delivers in a single capsule.”Wayne explained that their OraPro-COVID-19 capsules contain a freeze-dried Covid-19 vaccine and are thermally stable, which means they do not need refrigeration, as most other vaccines do.
Wayne added:
"Even the most vulnerable and shielded can benefit without a high risk visit to a healthcare professional. "The unique benefit of this vaccine is that it can be self- administered, meaning that once it has been delivered via post, you can simply swallow the capsule. "No injections, no needles, no nurse or doctor’s visit, therefore no need for PPE that’s still in such short supply. "And no expensive cold-chain storage is required like most other vaccines currently under development."Initial animal safety trials already concluded successfully, the next step is for volunteers to take part in human trials supervised by the regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Trials are set to start in June, and a vaccine could be available by the end of the year.
Funding from InnovateUK that was already invested for the development of a vaccine for the Zika virus, has been repurposed to fund the development of OraPro-COVID-19. The company said that greater investment is still required if they are to start trials in June.Stabilitech's founder and chief scientific officer, Dr Jeff Drew, has over 40 patents to his name.
He said:
"To generate protective immunity, first we insert the Spike-protein DNA from Covid-19, the S-protein cargo, into a non-replicating adenovirus, the viral vector. "OraPro’s thermal stability technology is applied and packaged within an acid resistant capsule that protects the vaccine as it passes through the stomach before being dissolved in the gut. "Because it is thermally stable, the vaccine is unharmed by the high – 37 degrees centigrade - temperatures in the stomach. "The viral vector delivers the S-protein cargo DNA to mucosal intestinal cells, which produce copies of the Covid-19 S-protein. "These cells deliver the S-protein to the cell membrane that results in mucosal and systemic immunity. "It takes two to three weeks for the immunity to develop. "We are confident that the science behind OraPro-COVID-19 works as we’ve seen in our recent project with the Zika virus vaccine. "Conditional on the funding being available for clinical trial, OraPro-COVID-19 can be delivered faster than many other vaccine candidates." If you found this story useful, then check out our home page at moreradio.online where you can find the latest from the county, along with features and competitions from our presenters, as well as listening to the station live.You can also sign up to our news alerts to receive updates on new stories. Simply click on the bell at the bottom right of the home page. This will then allow a pop-up which will ask if you would like to receive alerts. Press ‘allow’ and you’re all signed up!You can also follow us on Facebook and on Twitter.
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