Army’s own vaccine that can fight COVID variants begins clinical trials

A unique vaccine manufactured by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research began clinical trials on Tuesday, and army researchers hope it will combat variants of SARS-COV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 .

The vaccine, called spike ferritin nanoparticle, or SpFN, can also help fight other coronaviruses, a group of related RNA viruses that often cause respiratory illnesses in mammals.

According to Kayvon Modjarrad, director of emerging infectious diseases at Walter Reed, military researchers have been following the threat of new coronaviruses before the pandemic. The threat has increased in recent years.

“That is why we need a vaccine like this: one that has the potential to broadly and proactively protect against several coronavirus species and strains,” Modjarrad said in a statement announcing the SpFN testing.

The Department of Defense had a total of more than 271,000 COVID-19 cases. Of these, 3,814 people were admitted to hospital and 332 people died. Twenty-four of the deceased were service members and 11 were dependents.

Vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna have been approved under an emergency permit by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and are available to troops.

The Pentagon has made the vaccination of power a matter of readiness so that military operations can return to pre-pandemic norms. Although there have been difficulties in mobilizing troops to take the voluntary vaccine early, vaccination rates appear to have risen over the past few weeks.

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“The more people are vaccinated as quickly as possible, the lower the transmission of viruses, which gives them less chance of continuing to mutate,” said Dr. Steven Cersovsky, deputy director of the Army Public Health Center, said in late February.

New variants of COVID-19 have emerged in South Africa and the United Kingdom. But medical personnel from the military are hopeful that the current vaccines can combat the new strains. But if there are problems, Walter Reed’s vaccine may be timely.

“We have designed and positioned this platform as the next generation vaccine, one that paves the way for a universal vaccine to not only protect against the current virus, but also counteract future variants and stop it in its tracks before re-emerging. can cause a pandemic, ”Modjarrad said.

Pre-clinical studies have indicated that SpFN causes very strong antibody responses in patients, limiting the virus that causes COVID-19 infection, as well as three major SARS-CoV-2 variants and the SARS-CoV-1 virus.

The Phase 1 study is being conducted at Walter Reed’s clinical trial center and will enroll 72 healthy adult volunteers between the ages of 18-55. Participants will be placed randomly in placebo or experimental groups.

The clinical trial of SpFN is sponsored by the US Army Medical Research and Development Command.

The vaccine was developed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research with support from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc.