Hopes high for next virus: one jab is fit for all
JAMIE WALKER - NOVEMBER 25, 2022
Australian scientists have developed a one-stop vaccine for pandemic viruses that promises to be available within weeks of another Covid-style threat erupting.
The breakthrough was announced on Friday by the makers of the molecular clamp technology which went tantalisingly close to delivering a homemade immuniser for coronavirus in 2020. The reworked Clamp2 platform is designed to go after a range of lethal viruses, including those responsible for influenza, Nipah, ebola, Lassa fever and rodent-transmitted arenavirus – all seen as having potential to trigger another global crisis.
University of Queensland Rapid Response Vaccine Pipeline co-leader Keith Chappell, a key member of the original molecular clamp team, said the new formulation could be produced in 150 days from when a virus was genetically sequenced, on track to meet a target of 100 days.
“That’s definitely the goal we have,” Dr Chappell told The Weekend Australian. “It would be incredibly tough but this is a safeguard to prevent this ever happening again.”
The one-stop vaccine worked on a “plug and play” basis, meaning it could be tailored to quickly meet a new menace, he said. The international Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation, CEPI, has injected $8.5m into the project, part of its backing of research internationally to hit the 100-day objective.
Standing alongside Clamp2 team members, CEPI executive director of R&D Melanie Saville said another pandemic was inevitable, a matter of “when, not if”.
It had taken 326 days to make the first Covid-19 vaccine available – seen as a feat of science at the time – but lives and expense would be saved if the development time could be compressed.
“It’s too early to say whether they are going to absolutely hit 100 days,” she said of the Clamp2 offering. “But I think it is really possible a rapid response platform could work against a number of different viruses that could cause a pandemic threat.”
Dr Chappell said the revised vaccine platform had met “all expectations” in testing to date, producing stabilised antigens and inducing strong neutralising immune responses.
“Importantly, this re-engineered technology does not pose any issue with diagnostic interference as was encountered in 2020,” Dr Chappell said.
The original clamp vaccine for Covid had to be abandoned after it was found to have induced false positive readings to HIV, a massive setback to the national vaccine rollout. The federal government had ordered 51 million doses in the expectation the immuniser would get through the proving process.
Dr Chappell said the HIV issue had been resolved in Clamp2, though commercial confidentiality prevented him from saying how. The new uber-vaccine was due to enter a phase-1 human safety trial in March, next step in a three- to four-year process to secure approval should it clear the regulatory hurdles.
The initial clinical batch of the Clamp2 vaccine would be manufactured at the Queensland node of the National Biologics Facility, housed within UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.
Interim NBF director Ben Hughes said volunteers in the safety trial would receive a formulation for Covid. “While we have selected a Clamp2 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for the trial, this is to demonstrate the effectiveness and potential benefits of this platform compared to a currently licensed Covid-19 vaccine,” he said.
Associate professor Dan Watterson, who spearheaded the successful Clamp2 redesign, said it was important for people to understand the ultimate aim was not to rush a new Covid-19 vaccine to market. “This is about the role this technology could play in safeguarding against future pandemics,” Dr Watterson said.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/australian-scientists-rework-covid-clamp-vaccine-to-prevent-future-viral-pandemics/news-story/395fa26690db04447fe72369e7c481a1