Scientists aim to invent Wuhan vaccine in record time
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
August 10, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022
Scientists aim to invent Wuhan vaccine in record time

World+Biz

TBS Report
28 January, 2020, 03:05 pm
Last modified: 28 January, 2020, 03:38 pm

Related News

  • China's Wuhan locks down 1m residents amid new Covid cases
  • Fresh Covid outbreaks put millions under lockdown in China
  • China slashes Covid quarantine time for international travellers
  • After lockdown, Shanghai tries to mend fences with foreign firms
  • Shanghai to lift Covid lockdown

Scientists aim to invent Wuhan vaccine in record time

With the genetic code in hand, scientists can start vaccine development work without needing a sample of the virus

TBS Report
28 January, 2020, 03:05 pm
Last modified: 28 January, 2020, 03:38 pm
Scientists aim to invent Wuhan vaccine in record time

A relatively new US vaccine research group will be testing the first of a number of potential experimental vaccines against the deadly SARS-coronavirus that is spreading in China and beyond.

In cooperation with the US National Institutes of Health the research group would conduct human trials for emerging health threats, the Japan Time reported.

Three months from gene sequencing to initial human testing would be the fastest the agency has ever gotten such a vaccine off the ground, said Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases within NIH.

On the other hand, drug-maker company Johnson & Johnson confirmed working on a coronavirus vaccine two weeks ago and expressed confidence on being able to successfully bring it to the market within a year.

Dr Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer of Johnson & Johnson told CNBC in a Squawk Box" interview that "We have dozens of scientists working on this so we're pretty confident we can get something made that will work and stay active for the longer term".

"We'll see in the next few weeks how this goes," he added.

Chinese scientists were able to quickly identify the genetic sequence of the new coronavirus, and officials posted it publicly within a few days, allowing scientific research teams to get to work right away.

With the genetic code in hand, scientists can start vaccine development work without needing a sample of the virus.

Stoffels said the pharmaceutical company needed to start from scratch on this vaccine, much like how it operated in the Zika outbreak. Though Johnson & Johnson could shave two to three months off of that due to technological advances, he said.

"We are going to take an approach with at least five different constructs and different partners and collaborations all over the world in order to see which part of the virus we can use to make an effective vaccine and develop a model that we can invest in," he added.

Fred Hassan, former CEO of Schering-Plough, said later on "Squawk on the Street" that Stoffels' estimate on when Big Pharma might have a vaccine ready for market is accurate. "I believe we'll get the thing done in less than a year."

Hassan also pointed to new technology and scientific advances as factors helping streamline vaccine efforts.

Ex-Medtronic CEO Bill George told "Squawk on the Street" that he expects the outbreak to be "rough" for the next few months as China fights to contain the virus.

Drugmaker Moderna, which specializes in vaccines, also told CNBC last week that it is working with U.S. government health agencies to develop a vaccine for the current strain of coronavirus.

That team hopes to make an RNA vaccine based on one of the crown-like spikes on the surface of the coronavirus that gives the family of viruses their name. Unlike many vaccines, this approach would not expose people to even a crippled form of the virus itself.

During the deadly 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), it took U.S. scientists 20 months to go from genetic sequencing to the first phase of human trials. By that time, the outbreak was under control.

This time, research groups worldwide are already executing plans to test vaccines, treatments and other countermeasures to stop the newly identified virus from spreading globally.

They are attacking from several angles, with global health and epidemic response agencies hoping at least one treatment will be in human trials within a few months.

At the University of Queensland in Australia, scientists backed by a global health emergency group, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, said they are working on what they describe as a "molecular clamp" vaccine. This approach adds a gene to stabilize viral proteins and trick the body into thinking it is seeing a live virus and create antibodies against it.

Keith Chappell, an expert in the University's school of chemistry and molecular biosciences, said the technology is designed as "a platform approach to generate vaccines against a range of human and animal viruses."

It has already shown promising results in lab tests on other dangerous viruses such as Ebola and the coronavirus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) — a cousin of SARS and the Wuhan virus.

Novavax, which already has a vaccine in development against MERS, says it is now working on one for the Wuhan coronavirus.

Scientists also are turning to infection-fighting proteins known as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), which were developed against the SARS and MERS coronaviruses.

The hope is that similarities with the Wuhan virus will offer enough overlap in the antibodies to help people infected in the China outbreak.

Vir Biotechnology Chief Scientific Officer Herbert Virgin said his company has a library of monoclonal antibodies that have shown some success against SARS and MERS in lab tests.

Some of these antibodies have been shown to neutralize coronaviruses, Virgin said, and "may have the potential to treat and prevent (the) Wuhan coronavirus."

The outbreak, which began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December, has already sickened around 4,515 as of January 27 in China as death toll climbs to 106. Cases have also been confirmed in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, France, the United States, Australia and Malaysia.

Top News

Corona virus vaccine / Coronavirus in China / deadly coronavirus / Scientists / Johnson & Johnson / US National Institutes of Health

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • BPC says it cannot bear losses anymore
    BPC says it cannot bear losses anymore
  • Cargo ships pass a sandbank near Bendorf on the Rhine. Photographer: Thomas Frey/picture alliance/Getty Images
    Historic drought threatens to cripple european trade
  • File Photo/ UNB
    Inflation to shoot up with oil price hike: Finance minister

MOST VIEWED

  • 
The Sri Lanka Navy patrol team inspects a fishing boat during a random search operation, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 29, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
    The high price of a Sri Lankan family's bid to flee crisis
  • Former Pakistan PM Khan's aide, TV channel face sedition charges
    Former Pakistan PM Khan's aide, TV channel face sedition charges
  • Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis said the Government must intervene now to avoid a crisis in the energy market (Photo: Kirsty O’Connor/PA Wire)
    Martin Lewis warns of energy crisis ‘on scale of pandemic’
  • Cargo ships pass a sandbank near Bendorf on the Rhine. Photographer: Thomas Frey/picture alliance/Getty Images
    Historic drought threatens to cripple european trade
  • A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo
    Ukraine accuses Russia of using power plant as 'nuclear shield'
  • Photo: Collected
    Taiwan says 17 Chinese fighters crossed Strait median line

Related News

  • China's Wuhan locks down 1m residents amid new Covid cases
  • Fresh Covid outbreaks put millions under lockdown in China
  • China slashes Covid quarantine time for international travellers
  • After lockdown, Shanghai tries to mend fences with foreign firms
  • Shanghai to lift Covid lockdown

Features

The elevated ground is made out of soil on which grass and trees have grown. This grass-covered elevated ground extends to the perimeter of the establishment. Photo: Maruf Raihan

Aman Mosque: Where form and function complement each other

1d | Habitat
Photo: BSS

Begum Fazilatunnessa Mujib . . . woman of moral power

2d | Thoughts
Will Glass Cosmetics be your next skincare holy grail?

Will Glass Cosmetics be your next skincare holy grail?

2d | Brands
Akij Tableware: More than just dishes on a table

Akij Tableware: More than just dishes on a table

2d | Brands

More Videos from TBS

Those who remain in morgue for years after death

Those who remain in morgue for years after death

40m | Videos
Is Donald Trump getting caught in tax evasion case?

Is Donald Trump getting caught in tax evasion case?

45m | Videos
Western Europeans adopt various strategies to avoid heat

Western Europeans adopt various strategies to avoid heat

45m | Videos
Why are we forgetting 'everything'?

Why are we forgetting 'everything'?

2h | Videos

Most Read

1
Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 
Banking

Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 

2
Diesel price hiked by Tk34 per litre, Octane by Tk46
Energy

Diesel price hiked by Tk34 per litre, Octane by Tk46

3
Housing projects sprouting up by Dhaka-Mawa expressway
Real Estate

Housing projects sprouting up by Dhaka-Mawa expressway

4
Infographic: TBS
Banking

Dollar rate will be left to market after two months: Governor

5
Photo: Collected
Transport

Will Tokyo’s traffic model solve Dhaka’s gridlocks?

6
Bangladesh to resume talks for Ukrainian wheat import
Economy

Bangladesh to resume talks for Ukrainian wheat import

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]