Exclusive: Oxfordshire-based Emergex gets go-ahead for trials in Switzerland for skin patch vaccine.
An Oxfordshire-based company will soon start clinical trials of a second-generation vaccine against Covid-19, an easy-to-administer skin patch that uses T-cells to kill infected cells and could offer longer-lasting immunity than current vaccines.
Emergex was set up in Abingdon in 2016 to develop T-cell vaccines, the brainchild of Prof Thomas Rademacher, the firm’s chief executive and professor emeritus of molecular medicine at the University College London medical school.
The vaccines prime T-cells to remove infected cells from the body quickly after infection, thus preventing viral replication and disease. While the antibodies produced by the current Covid vaccines stick to the virus and stop it infecting cells, T-cells find and destroy infected cells. Those other vaccines, such as the Pfizer/BioNTech and the AstraZeneca/Oxford University jabs, also produce a T-cell response, but to a lesser extent.
Emergex has received the green light from the Swiss drugs regulator to conduct initial human trials in Lausanne, involving 26 people who will receive a high and a low dose of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine, starting on 3 January. Interim results from the trial are expected in June.
Robin Cohen, the firm’s chief commercial officer, said: “This is the first time a regulator has approved a Covid vaccine to go into clinical trials whose sole purpose is to generate a targeted T-cell response in the absence of an antibody response and those T-cells look for infected cells and kills them.”
Using the analogy of an asteroid hitting a planet, he explained: “The virus is the asteroid: it fires into the planet and a viral code, a signature for that virus, is rapidly displayed all over the surface. These signatures are read by T-cells as foreign, and the T-cells kill the cell before it can produce new live viruses.”
Current Covid-19 vaccines mainly elicit an antibody response that wanes over time, which means people need booster shots to maintain protection against the virus. The Emergex vaccine works differently, by killing infected cells quickly. This means it could offer longer-lasting immunity – possibly for decades – and could also be better at fighting virus mutations, said Cohen.
A study published in Nature last week showed that some people experience “abortive infection” in which the virus enters the body but is cleared by the immune system’s T-cells at the earliest stage. Scientists said the discovery could pave the way for a new generation of vaccines targeting the T-cell response, which could produce much longer lasting immunity.
Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London, said he doubted that a T-cell vaccine “could do the job on its own” but it could play a complementary role, in a mix-and-match approach where different vaccines are given for the first, second and third doses.
He said mRNA vaccines such as the Pfizer/BioNTech shot work so well because they produce a strong neutralising antibody response. The Pfizer vaccine has been shown to be more effective against Covid than the AstraZeneca/Oxford jab, which elicits a stronger T-cell response.
But a T-cell vaccine could be used to complement other jabs, he said, as T-cell vaccines might be more impervious to virus mutations. “Antibodies are very sensitive to mutations while T-cells can see many other parts of the virus. Maybe that’s a selling point for T-cell vaccines…..”
News
Scientists study lipids cell by cell, making new cancer research possible
Imagine being able to look inside a single cancer cell and see how it communicates with its neighbors. Scientists are celebrating a new technique that lets them study the fatty contents of cancer cells, [...]
Antibiotic Breakthrough: Revolutionary Chinese Study Paves Way for Superbug Defeating Drugs
New research reveals that fluorous lipopetides act as highly effective antibiotics. Bacterial infections resistant to multiple drugs, which no existing antibiotics can treat, represent a significant worldwide challenge. A research group from China has [...]
Signs of Multiple Sclerosis Show Up in Blood Years Before Symptoms Appear
UCSF scientists clear a potential path toward earlier treatment for a disease that affects nearly 1,000,000 people in the United States. By Levi Gadye In a discovery that could hasten treatment for patients with multiple [...]
Advanced RNA Sequencing Reveals the Drivers of New COVID Variants
A study reveals that a new sequencing technique, tARC-seq, can accurately track mutations in SARS-CoV-2, providing insights into the rapid evolution and variant development of the virus. The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID has the unsettling [...]
No More Endless Boosters? Scientists Develop One-for-All Virus Vaccine
End of the line for endless boosters? Researchers at UC Riverside have developed a new vaccine approach using RNA that is effective against any strain of a virus and can be used safely even by babies or the immunocompromised. Every [...]
How Are Hydrogels Shaping the Future of Biomedicine?
Hydrogels have gained widespread recognition and utilization in biomedical engineering, with their applications dating back to the 1960s when they were first used in contact lens production. Hydrogels are distinguished from other biomaterials in [...]
Nanovials method for immune cell screening uncovers receptors that target prostate cancer
A recent UCLA study demonstrates a new process for screening T cells, part of the body's natural defenses, for characteristics vital to the success of cell-based treatments. The method filters T cells based on [...]
New Research Reveals That Your Sense of Smell May Be Smarter Than You Think
A new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience indicates that the sense of smell is significantly influenced by cues from other senses, whereas the senses of sight and hearing are much less affected. A popular [...]
Deadly bacteria show thirst for human blood: the phenomenon of bacterial vampirism
Some of the world's deadliest bacteria seek out and feed on human blood, a newly-discovered phenomenon researchers are calling "bacterial vampirism." A team led by Washington State University researchers has found the bacteria are [...]
Organ Architects: The Remarkable Cells Shaping Our Development
Finding your way through the winding streets of certain cities can be a real challenge without a map. To orient ourselves, we rely on a variety of information, including digital maps on our phones, [...]
Novel hydrogel removes microplastics from water
Microplastics pose a great threat to human health. These tiny plastic debris can enter our bodies through the water we drink and increase the risk of illnesses. They are also an environmental hazard; found [...]
Researchers Discover New Origin of Deep Brain Waves
Understanding hippocampal activity could improve sleep and cognition therapies. Researchers from the University of California, Irvine’s biomedical engineering department have discovered a new origin for two essential brain waves—slow waves and sleep spindles—that are critical for [...]
The Lifelong Cost of Surviving COVID: Scientists Uncover Long-Term Effects
Many of the individuals released to long-term acute care facilities suffered from conditions that lasted for over a year. Researchers at UC San Francisco studied COVID-19 patients in the United States who survived some of the longest and [...]
Previously Unknown Rogue Immune Key to Chronic Viral Infections Discovered
Scientists discovered a previously unidentified rogue immune cell linked to poor antibody responses in chronic viral infections. Australian researchers have discovered a previously unknown rogue immune cell that can cause poor antibody responses in [...]
Nature’s Betrayal: Unmasking Lead Lurking in Herbal Medicine
A case of lead poisoning due to Ayurvedic medicine use demonstrates the importance of patient history in diagnosis and the need for public health collaboration to prevent similar risks. An article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association [...]
Frozen in Time: How a DNA Anomaly Misled Scientists for Centuries
An enormous meteor spelled doom for most dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But not all. In the aftermath of the extinction event, birds — technically dinosaurs themselves — flourished. Scientists have spent centuries trying [...]