PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

A new hope: A novel vaccine against COVID-19 is safe and induces antibody production

Early-phase clinical trials show that a vaccine called KCONVAC is safe and stimulates antibody production in Chinese adults

2021-06-07
(Press-News.org) The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt and end lives around the world, and public health officials worldwide have recognized vaccines as the critical tools required for controlling the COVID-19 death toll and achieving a return to normal life. Several vaccines against COVID-19 are already in use, but the limited supplies of these vaccines and the possibility of safety and efficacy issues of the existing vaccines mean that it is important for scientists to develop more (and even better) vaccines. In fact, as of February 2021, 69 different vaccines are in various phases of clinical development.

One type of vaccine that could prove quite useful is the inactivated vaccine, which contains an inactivated form of the virus. The inactivated virus cannot harm the recipient, but it still serves to trigger an immune response that causes the recipient's immune system to produce antibodies that can later fight off the real virus if need be. Inactivated vaccines have been in use for decades and have several advantages, including a well-documented safety record, well-developed manufacturing processes, and the capacity to present multiple viral proteins for recognition by the immune system. So far, Chinese authorities have issued conditional approval to three different inactivated vaccines for use in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.

One inactivated vaccine currently in development is the KCONVAC vaccine developed by the Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Company and the Beijing Minhai Biotechnology Company. The KCONVAC vaccine is evaluated in ongoing phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials, which aim to generate preliminary evidence of safety and preliminary evidence of efficacy, respectively. In a paper recently published in Chinese Medical Journal, a team of researchers led by Dr. Wen-Jie Tan of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Wei-Jin Huang of the China National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, and Dr. Feng-Cai Zhu of the Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention explore the existing clinical evidence for KCONVAC's safety and ability to generate an immune response in healthy adults.

The phase 1 trial included 60 healthy Chinese adults, and the phase 2 trial included 500 healthy Chinese adults. In each trial, the participants were randomly assigned to groups that received 5 micrograms of the vaccine, 10 micrograms of the vaccine, or a placebo injection. The phase 2 trial participants received two separate injections administered either two or four weeks apart. Importantly, each trial was double-blind, meaning that neither the participants nor the clinical personnel they interacted with knew which group a participant had been assigned to. This "double-blinding," a common procedure in clinical trials, served to increase the likelihood that any treatment effects would be due to the treatment administered rather than the participants' expectations about what they would experience. "From the phase 1 and 2 trials, we wanted to know how many participants would experience adverse events within 28 days of the injections, and how effective the vaccine would be at inducing the production of antibodies against the novel coronavirus, respectively," reports Dr. Tan.

In the phase 1 trial, participants who received the vaccine were no more likely to experience adverse events than participants who received the placebo injections were. The same pattern emerged in the phase 2 trial, and no severe vaccine-related adverse events occurred. In the phase 2 trial, KCONVAC successfully induced antibody production, and antibody production was stronger in participants who received their injections four weeks apart than in those who received their injections two weeks apart.

What's more, as Dr. Huang notes, "these findings show that KCONVAC, both at a 5-microgram dose and a 10-microgram dose, is well tolerated and able to induce robust immune responses in adults and support the testing 5-microgram vaccine doses spaced four weeks apart in an upcoming phase 3 trial."

"With this upcoming phase 3 trial, we hope to provide solid evidence that KCONVAC is safe and capable of reducing a recipient's likelihood of developing COVID-19," states Dr. Zhu. If the phase 3 trial returns positive results, then KCONVAC may become a valuable new tool in the fight to end the COVID-19 pandemic.

INFORMATION:

Reference

Title of original paper: Immunogenicity and safety of a SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine in healthy adults: randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials.

Journal: Chinese Medical Journal

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/cm9.0000000000001573



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

African great apes to suffer massive range loss in next 30 years

African great apes to suffer massive range loss in next 30 years
2021-06-07
A new study published in the journal Diversity and Distributions predicts massive range declines of Africa's great apes - gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos - due to the impacts of climate change, land-use changes and human population growth. For their analysis, the authors compiled information on African ape occurrence held in the IUCN SSC A.P.E.S. database, a repository that includes a remarkable amount of information on population status, threats and conservation for several hundred sites, collected over 20 years. The first-of-its-kind study quantifies the joint effects of climate, land-use, and human population changes across African ape ranges for the year ...

Oncotarget: The drug sensitivity of hepatocellular cancer cells

Oncotarget: The drug sensitivity of hepatocellular cancer cells
2021-06-07
Oncotarget published "Effect of cell microenvironment on the drug sensitivity of hepatocellular cancer cells" which reported that this study aimed to investigate whether Hepatocellular Cancer (HCC) cells cultured in more native conditions have an altered phenotype and drug sensitivity compared to those cultured in standard conditions. Six HCC cell lines were cultured in "standard" or more "native" conditions. HCC cells cultured in native conditions had slower doubling times, increased HK2 and GLUT, lower PHDA and ATP levels, and mutations in mitochondrial DNA. From 90 comparisons of drug sensitivity, increased resistance ...

Oncotarget: Infiltration in human skin squamous-cell carcinoma

Oncotarget: Infiltration in human skin squamous-cell carcinoma
2021-06-07
Oncotarget published "Mutually exclusive lymphangiogenesis or perineural infiltration in human skin squamous-cell carcinoma" which reported that although tumor-associated lymphangiogenesis correlates with metastasis and poor prognosis in several cancers, it also supports T cell infiltration into the tumor and predicts favorable outcome to immunotherapy. Using quantitative multiplex immunohistochemistry, the authors analyzed skin squamous-cell carcinoma (sSCC) sections from 36 patients. CD8 T cell infiltration showed great differences between patients, whereby these ...

Army researchers develop innovative framework for training AI

Army researchers develop innovative framework for training AI
2021-06-07
ADELPHI, Md. -- Army researchers developed a pioneering framework that provides a baseline for the development of collaborative multi-agent systems. The framework is detailed in the survey paper Survey of recent multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithms utilizing centralized training, which is featured in the SPIE Digital Library. Researchers said the work will support research in reinforcement learning approaches for developing collaborative multi-agent systems such as teams of robots that could work side-by-side with future Soldiers. "We propose that the underlying information sharing mechanism plays a critical role in centralized learning for multi-agent systems, ...

Infrared imaging leaves invasive pythons nowhere to hide

2021-06-07
WASHINGTON -- For more than 25 years, Burmese pythons have been living and breeding in the Florida Everglades where they prey on native wildlife and disrupt the region's delicate ecosystems. A new study shows that infrared cameras could make it easier to spot these invasive snakes in the Florida foliage, providing a new tool in the effort to remove them. In the Optical Society (OSA) journal Applied Optics, researchers led by Dr. Kyle Renshaw from the University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics report that a near infrared camera helped people detect Burmese pythons at distances up to 1.3 times farther away than was possible using a traditional visible-wavelength ...

Sensing what plants sense: Integrated framework helps scientists explain biology and predict crop performance

Sensing what plants sense: Integrated framework helps scientists explain biology and predict crop performance
2021-06-07
AMES, Iowa - Scientists have invested great time and effort into making connections between a plant's genotype, or its genetic makeup, and its phenotype, or the plant's observable traits. Understanding a plant's genome helps plant biologists predict how that plant will perform in the real world, which can be useful for breeding crop varieties that will produce high yields or resist stress. But environmental conditions play a role as well. Plants with the same genotype will perform differently when grown in different environments. A new study led by an Iowa State University scientist uses advanced data analytics to help scientists understand ...

Study helps to deeper understanding of brain dysfunctions in patients with schizophrenia

Study helps to deeper understanding of brain dysfunctions in patients with schizophrenia
2021-06-07
A study conducted by a group of Brazilian researchers contributes to a deeper understanding of the molecular basis for schizophrenia, and potentially to the development of more specific and effective treatments for the disease. The medications currently available on the market act generically on the brain and can have severe adverse side effects. Treatment of post-mortem samples from the hippocampus of schizophrenic patients with an NMDA receptor antagonist pointed to biological processes associated with the disease that are specific to neurons and oligodendrocytes. NMDA receptors are neurotransmitter receptors located in the postsynaptic ...

New potential therapy for fatty liver disease

2021-06-07
In those with fatty liver disease, a person's fat goes to their liver instead of their fat tissue, either because of an absence of fat depots, which is seen in the rare genetic disease lipodystrophy, or because the depots are too full, which is seen in people with obesity. One third of these people will go on to develop nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH - an advanced form of fatty liver disease brought on by progressive inflammation and scarring in the organ. In 2002, Michigan Medicine endocrinologist Elif Oral, M.D., who had just moved from the National Institutes of Health at the time, published her discovery that patients with severe lipodystrophy lack leptin, a hormone that helps curb appetite and control weight gain. When given ...

Feedback on cafeteria purchases helps employees make healthier food choices

2021-06-07
BOSTON - Automated emails and letters that provide personalized feedback related to cafeteria purchases at work may help employees make healthier food choices. That's the conclusion of a new study that was led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and is published in END ...

RUDN University chemists created anti-hantavirus drugs 5 times more efficient than existing drugs

RUDN University chemists created anti-hantavirus drugs 5 times more efficient than existing drugs
2021-06-07
RUDN University chemists and their colleagues from Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry and The State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR have obtained a new class of compounds that inhibit the replication of the deadly Hantaan virus that affects blood vessels and internal organs of humans. The resulting substances were 5 times more effective than existing antiviral drugs. The results have been published Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. The Hantaan virus causes acute haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). The disease ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Scientists unlock secrets behind flowering of the king of fruits

Texas A&M researchers illuminate the mysteries of icy ocean worlds

Prosthetic material could help reduce infections from intravenous catheters

Can the heart heal itself? New study says it can

Microscopic discovery in cancer cells could have a big impact

Rice researchers take ‘significant leap forward’ with quantum simulation of molecular electron transfer

Breakthrough new material brings affordable, sustainable future within grasp

How everyday activities inside your home can generate energy

Inequality weakens local governance and public satisfaction, study finds

Uncovering key molecular factors behind malaria’s deadliest strain

UC Davis researchers help decode the cause of aggressive breast cancer in women of color

Researchers discovered replication hubs for human norovirus

SNU researchers develop the world’s most sensitive flexible strain sensor

Tiny, wireless antennas use light to monitor cellular communication

Neutrality has played a pivotal, but under-examined, role in international relations, new research shows

Study reveals right whales live 130 years — or more

Researchers reveal how human eyelashes promote water drainage

Pollinators most vulnerable to rising global temperatures are flies, study shows

DFG to fund eight new research units

Modern AI systems have achieved Turing's vision, but not exactly how he hoped

Quantum walk computing unlocks new potential in quantum science and technology

Construction materials and household items are a part of a long-term carbon sink called the “technosphere”

First demonstration of quantum teleportation over busy Internet cables

Disparities and gaps in breast cancer screening for women ages 40 to 49

US tobacco 21 policies and potential mortality reductions by state

AI-driven approach reveals hidden hazards of chemical mixtures in rivers

Older age linked to increased complications after breast reconstruction

ESA and NASA satellites deliver first joint picture of Greenland Ice Sheet melting

Early detection model for pancreatic necrosis improves patient outcomes

Poor vascular health accelerates brain ageing

[Press-News.org] A new hope: A novel vaccine against COVID-19 is safe and induces antibody production
Early-phase clinical trials show that a vaccine called KCONVAC is safe and stimulates antibody production in Chinese adults