Scientists at Oxford University and Liverpool have begun trials of a new vaccine for the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The first clinical study participants received their vaccinations in Liverpool on Friday, September 15, 2023. This trial aims to develop a protective vaccine against MERS and reduce the potential pandemic risk of this virus.
The vaccine, developed by Dame Sarah Gilbert, uses the ChAdOx19 platform technology, which is the same as the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-1 vaccine. The vaccine study, developed to protect people against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), was launched on Friday, September 15, 2023. It is the third phase I clinical trial of the ChAdOx1 MERS vaccine developed by researchers at the University of Oxford's Institute of Pandemic Sciences. MERS is a viral disease caused by the MERS coronavirus, which comes from the same viral family as Covid-19, and there is currently no approved vaccine treatment. These outbreaks begin when they spread to humans, and one-third of all infections can be fatal. The World Health Organization recognizes MERS as a priority infectious disease that requires urgent research to develop a vaccine.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, Oxford University had begun developing a vaccine against MERS using the ChAdOx19 platform. It was this research that paved the way for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to be developed so quickly in 2020, saving an estimated 6 million lives worldwide. It underlines the need for continued global funding and emphasizes the importance of developing vaccines against lesser-known diseases.
Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, from the University of Oxford's Institute of Pandemic Sciences and developer of the ChAdOx1 MERS vaccine, said:
"This trial is an important step in the development of a vaccine against the MERS coronavirus. We had already tested our ChAdOx1 MERS vaccine in young adults in the UK and Saudi Arabia before the COVID-19 pandemic. These trials are critical for the rapid progression of the disease." Development of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine We are now returning to the task of developing a vaccine against MERS and will test it for the first time in older adults, the age group most in need of protection against this life-threatening virus. 84 people from the UK and Saudi Arabia, aged between 50 and 70, will take part in the study in Liverpool, which follows two earlier Phase I clinical trials in Liverpool that found the vaccine produced a strong immune response against MERS after a single dose. It was well tolerated by healthy volunteers aged 18 to 50 years. The results will be taken as basis and vaccine safety and immune responses in older people will be examined after one and two doses of the vaccine. The trial is being led by the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford. It is a study funded by CEPI and delivered by the Liverpool University Hospitals NIHR Liverpool Clinical Research Facility at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. "Vaccitech plc holds the commercialization rights for ChAdOx1 MERS and is collaborating with the University of Oxford and CEPI to develop the vaccine."
CEPI Vaccine Research and Development Executive Director, the funder of the research, Dr. Melanie Saville said:
“Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the world continues to witness the serious danger and destruction that coronavirus threats can bring. Its deadly viral cousin, MERS, remains a regional and global concern, as highlighted by recent cases in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia.
“This latest Phase I trial of Oxford's MERS vaccine, developed on the ChAdOx1 platform, one of the few clinically validated rapid response platforms worldwide, is particularly important because the findings will provide critical guidance on how we can better protect vulnerable communities from health and socioeconomic crisis. “The effects of this deadly pathogen.”
Senior Clinical Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine and Principal Investigator at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Andrea Collins said: "We are excited to be carrying out this Phase I clinical trial at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. We have recruited thousands of participants in infectious diseases and vaccine clinical trials and have an incredible team of volunteers who have come forward to deliver these studies. COVID-19 in Liverpool "As during the epidemic." "We have a database. We couldn't do this without them, so thank you to each and every one of them."
Professor Maheshi Ramasamy, Clinician Scientist at the Oxford Vaccine Group and Principal Investigator of the trial, said: "MERS has a higher mortality rate than COVID-19 and we do not yet have an effective treatment or vaccine for it. This trial is the Oxford COVID' -19 “It is an exciting opportunity to build on our partnership with Liverpool developed during vaccine trials and investigate a promising vaccine against another potentially lethal coronavirus.”