Science
Chinese vaccine candidate COVID-19 has been shown to be effective in animal tests
(Reuters) Animal tests of a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese researchers show that it activates an immune response against a novel coronavirus, offering some hope in early human trials, according to a peer-reviewed report.
ARCOV is an RNA messenger vaccine that uses technology similar to that used by Moderna and BioNtech and Pfizer. It is the second possible COVID-19 vaccine that the Chinese military-backed research unit has pushed to clinical trials.
The findings of the ARCoV trials in mice and monkeys, published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Cell on Thursday, indicate both single and two-dose inoculations caused by strong antibody and T-cell responses to several COVID-19 virus strains.
Nevertheless, the researchers conducting the study noted that they were not yet able to see how long ARCoV-induced antibodies might last or how good their defense could be against other strains that cause COVID-19 but were not tested in the study.
ARCoV has been stable at 25 ° C ( 77 ° F) for at least a week, researchers said, which may make it more appealing to future immunization campaigns in hard-to - reach communities where cold-chain storage and transport are not always secure.
While no COVID-19 vaccine has yet been approved for sale, more than 150 vaccines are emerging globally with the goal of helping to end the global pandemic that has taken more than 600,000 lives. Yet it is far from clear if any would succeed.
Source: Reuters; Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Tony Munroe in Beijing, editing by Kate Kelland and Himani Sakar
