When tested in mice, the vaccine — delivered through a fingertip-sized patch — produces antibodies specific to SARS-CoV-2 at quantities thought to be sufficient for neutralising the virus. The research published in EBioMedicine is the first study to be published after critique from fellow scientists at outside institutions that describes a candidate vaccine for COVID-19.
Compared to the experimental mRNA vaccine candidate that just entered clinical trials, the vaccine described in this paper — which the authors are calling PittCoVacc, short for Pittsburgh Coronavirus Vaccine — follows a more established approach, using lab-made pieces of viral protein to build immunity, the same way the current flu shots work.
The researchers also used a novel approach to deliver the drug, called a microneedle array, to increase potency. The patch goes on like a Band-Aid and then the needles — which are made of sugar and the protein pieces — dissolve into the skin. “And it’s actually pretty painless — it feels kind of like Velcro” said co-senior author Louis Falo, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of dermatology at Pitt’s School of Medicine and UPMC.
The scientists are now in the process of applying for an investigational new drug approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in anticipation of starting a phase I human clinical trial.
