- Oravax has announced that a COVID-19 vaccine in tablet form could soon start early clinical trials.
- Oral vaccines offer many advantages over those based on injection, and exist for other diseases.
- But the Oravax product is only in its earliest stages. All approved vaccines use injections.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
A coronavirus vaccine in pill form could enter the first stages of clinical trials this year.
Oravax, the company working on the drug, announced in a press release that it hopes to begin the first phase of clinical trials in humans by June.
The step is only the earliest phase of vaccine development. There is no guarantee of success, and even if it works, it can take a year or more before it is allowed for use (Moderna and Pfizer started their first human trials in March and May 2020, respectively).
Oral vaccines are an option being considered for “second generation” vaccines, designed to be more scalable, easier to administer and easier to distribute.
Oravax is a joint venture between two companies: the Israeli-American company Oramed and the Indian company Premas Biotech. The press release on Friday said trials could begin by June.
An oral vaccine can “potentially” [enable] people to take the vaccine themselves, ”said Oramed CEO Nadav Kidron in the release.
The vaccine can be sent in a normal refrigerator and stored at room temperature, Kidron said: “It makes it logistically easier to get it anywhere in the world,” reports the Jerusalem Post.
In an email to Insider, prof. Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, with warning.
“We will need proper studies to prove [oral vaccines’] worth, ‘he said.
“But it can also be of value to people who are severely needle-phobic and who can be administered more easily and quickly.”
Oral vaccines can also offer other benefits over vaccinations taken in the arm, Hunter told Insider.
“The thing about systemic vaccines (shots in the arms) in that they are generally very good at preventing serious diseases”, but it is often not so good at preventing infection.
The theory is that, because the infection first appears in the nose and throat, vaccines focused on those areas help stop infection before it can develop into worse.
Data on the Oravax vaccine have not been published to date. “The results of animal studies are encouraging,” Hunter told Insider. “But do not assume that animal results always translate into human results”.
“We need human studies to be sure,” he said.
Other types of second-generation vaccines are being investigated, such as vaccines delivered through a nasal spray. Scientists are also studying whether vaccines can be delivered by means of patches.
Prof. Sarah Gilbert, chief scientist on the development of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, said Oxford was assessing the possibility of developing tablets and oral vaccines, the Independent reported on 25 February.
The University of Oxford declined to answer questions about oral vaccines that Insider had put forward for publication.
Another company, ImmunityBio, is conducting Phase 1 clinical trials of an oral version of the vaccine. However, it will be used more as a booster dose for the intramuscular vaccine, rather than the vaccine itself.
The only test of an oral COVID-19 vaccine done in humans so far has not been performed.
At the end of 2020, a company called Vaxart announced good results in animal trials, but in the first human trials it received disappointing reactions.