Israel will launch an oral vaccine for the new coronavirus in a few weeks

Coronavirus is a virus strain composed of numerous types of viruses, some deadly and others causing mild colds or flu. Despite a fairly extensive mapping of existing viruses, new virus strains are sometimes transmitted from animals to humans.

When this happens, it is difficult to defend oneself because new viruses are almost never sensitive to existing vaccinations, and others need to be studied. In the meantime, cases of infection can increase disproportionately and, if the virus is particularly strong, it can cause death: this is how the epidemic begins.

The chances of getting a coronavirus vaccine quickly come from Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported the statements of a team of Israeli biologists who are studying a vaccine against Covid-19 that could be available in a few weeks.

“In the last four years, a team of scientists from MIGAL – The Galilee Research Institute, has developed a vaccine against infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), which causes a bronchial disease affecting poultry, whose effectiveness has been demonstrated in preclinical studies conducted at the Veterinary Institute.”

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The coronavirus vaccine could be discovered in a very short time

Chen Katz, the leader of the biotechnology research group explained why the vaccine against the new coronavirus could be discovered in a very short time: “Our basic concept was to develop the technology and not specifically a vaccine for this or that type of virus. The scientific framework for the vaccine is based on a new vector of protein expression, which forms and secretes a soluble chimeric protein that transports the viral antigen into mucosal tissue by self-activated endocytosis, causing the body to form antibodies against the virus.

He continued: “Endocytosis is a cellular process in which substances are introduced into a cell by surrounding the material with the cell membrane, forming a vesicle containing the ingested material. In preclinical studies, the team demonstrated that oral vaccination induces high levels of specific anti-IBV antibodies; let’s call it pure luck we decided to choose coronavirus as a model for our system just like a concept test for our technology.”

Biotechnology specialists have to adapt the system to the new sequence

The researchers then sequenced the RNA of the new coronavirus causing the current outbreak worldwide. After examining it, they found that the poultry coronavirus has a high genetic similarity to the human coronavirus and uses the same infection mechanism.

From here, emphasized Katz, “increases the probability of achieving an effective human vaccine in a very short period of time. All we have to do is adapt the system to the new sequence. We are in the middle of this process and hopefully, in a few weeks, we will have the vaccine in our hands. We are doing all we can to speed up development, the vaccine could get safety approval in 90 days, and it will be an oral vaccine, which will make it particularly accessible to the general public. We are currently having intensive discussions with potential partners who can help speed up the human testing phase and speed up the completion of the final product development and regulatory activities.”

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(Featured image by Hello I’m Nik ? via Unsplash)

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First published in Wall Street Italia, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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