First volunteers receive COVID-19 vaccine in phase I clinical trial

The vaccine trial at DZIF is on track. The first test subjects were vaccinated at the UKE in Hamburg.

© Hyttalo Souza

The vaccine trial is on track. Last Friday, on 9 October, the first test subject was injected with the vaccine MVA-SARS-2-S against COVID-19. A total of six volunteers received the vector vaccine to date. At the end of September, the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) received approval from the Paul Ehrlich Institute, Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedical Drugs, and the Ethics Commission of the Hamburg Medical Association to start the clinical trial. The vaccine was developed by scientists at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and IDT Biologika GmbH. Now it is entering clinical phase I, where it is being examined for safety, tolerability and its specific immune response against the pathogen.

A total of 30 trial participants will be vaccinated at the medical contract institute CTC North at the Hamburg-Eppendorf University Medical Centre (UKE). Preliminary examinations and selection of healthy volunteers started at the beginning of October. The vaccination of the first volunteer took place on 9 October. Vaccinations of further test subjects followed with the necessary safety margin. “So far, everything has gone as expected and according to plan”, said Prof. Marylyn Addo, Head of Infectious Diseases at the UKE and investigator in charge of the clinical trial.

In total, the 30 test subjects aged between 18 and 55 will be vaccinated in eight groups and two increasing doses. The study participants will receive two vaccinations every four weeks and will be medically monitored for a few hours after each vaccination at CTC North. On the days following the vaccinations and in the course of the following six months, the test subjects will have to attend regular outpatient follow-up examinations in order to assess vaccine tolerance, possible side effects and the immune response using blood tests and surveys. The scientists in Professor Addo’s research group and at the DZIF partners in Marburg will simultaneously measure the formation of antibodies and T cells in the body and compare them with the immune responses of recovered COVID-19 patients.

Source: UKE press release

Please address your enquiries directly to the UKE press office:

Anja Brandt
Corporate Communications

University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE)

anja.brandt@uke.de

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