A laboratory in the United Kingdom is hoping to become the first in the world to intentionally infect volunteers with novel coronavirus in order to test the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
Half of the participants in these so-called human challenge trials would be given a candidate vaccine for COVID-19, the other half would get a placebo, and all of them would then be exposed to novel coronavirus via a nasal spray.
The volunteers, aged 18 to 30, would then spend weeks quarantined at a private clinic, frequently checked on by researchers in hazmat suits running tests to determine if the vaccine provides protection against the disease. Those who display symptoms would be treated with antivirals or immunotherapeutics.
Open Orphan (LON:ORPH) was founded in 2017, with the goal of rapidly building Europe’s leading pharma services company by a management team with extensive industry and financial expertise. The company comprises of two commercial specialist CRO services businesses (Venn Life Sciences and hVIVO) and is also developing a genomics data platform business (Genomic Health Data).