Expert hopes for a vaccine in 6–8 months
MedicalNewsToday (MNT) have interviewed Prof. Martin Bachmann, from the University of Bern, in Switzerland, and the Edward Jenner Institute for Vaccine Research, at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
According to the website, Prof. Bachmann, a leading immunology expert and a professor of vaccinology, is currently working on a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that he hopes to introduce to a large part of the world’s population in 6–8 months.
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In this, his first interview with MNT, Prof. Bachmann spoke of the challenges of devising a vaccine during a pandemic, explaining that researchers need to work much faster than usual. He also described the specificities of his vaccine.
The vaccine would use virus-like particles that are not infectious but trigger a very strong antibody response. It would also employ a part of the spike protein that SARS-CoV-2 uses to attach to healthy cells.
The expert also detailed the challenges that need to be addressed for this vaccine to become available to the public in large quantities.
“If this works, then we expect to make around 10,000 doses with 1 liter of culture, which means you can really make a lot of doses in a short period of time.”– Prof. Martin Bachmann
“What I would like to do,” the researcher continued, “is an initial study, maybe on 100 people, just to see that you get the right antibodies and that people tolerate it reasonably well. Then you can expand. That would involve constant monitoring, of course, by the health authorities, but then, really, you could give the vaccine to everyone.”
“We could probably have hundreds of millions of doses in half a year,” Prof. Bachmann concluded.
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