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Although there are now around 150 development projects worldwide, the German and British plans are among the five human clinical trials that have been approved worldwide.
In Britain, volunteers in a trial at Oxford University will receive the first dose of a possible vaccine based on a virus found in chimpanzees on Thursday.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the German regulatory body PEI gave the green light to the country’s first tests on human volunteers for a vaccine developed by the German firm Biontech and the American giant Pfizer.
The Oxford test, led by the university’s Jenner Institute, will involve 510 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55 in the first phase.
Research director Professor Sarah Gilbert estimated that she has about an 80 percent chance of succeeding.
The institute aims to develop a million doses of the vaccine in September, to distribute it as soon as possible after approval.
The Oxford trial is part of a national effort in the UK that since Friday has been spearheaded by a government task force.
In Germany, meanwhile, the PEI said its approval of the Biontech trial marked a “significant step” in making a vaccine “available as soon as possible.”
In the first phase, you will see “200 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 55 years” vaccinated with variants of the vaccine, while the second phase could see the inclusion of volunteers belonging to high-risk groups.
On Wednesday, Biontech CEO Ugur Sahin said at a press conference that testing would begin “in late April.”
He added that the firm hoped to have collected the first data by “late June or early July.”
Biontech also said they and Pfizer hoped to get regulatory approval soon to test the same vaccine candidate in the United States.
Meanwhile, the PEI stated that “additional clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine candidates will begin in Germany in the coming months.”
– “Normal” –
There are currently no vaccines or medications approved for the COVID-19 disease, which has killed more than 170,000 people worldwide and infected more than two million.
Experts estimate that it will take at least 12 to 18 months to develop a new vaccine.
Last week, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said a vaccine was the only thing that would return “normality” to the world, and called for development projects to be accelerated.
Meanwhile, a UN resolution adopted on Monday called for “equitable, efficient and timely access” to any vaccine that could be developed.
In addition to Biontech and Oxford, three other human clinical trials have been approved worldwide since mid-March, with Chinese and American developers among the first to move.
Beijing approved the first trial for a vaccine developed by the military-backed Academy of Military Medical Sciences and biotech firm CanSino Bio, registered in Hong Kong, on March 16.
That day, US drug developer Moderna said it had begun human testing for its vaccine with the US National Institutes of Health. USA
Another US lab The San Diego-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals began the first phase of human trials on April 6.
However, although Biontech praised what it called a “global development program” on Wednesday, the search for a vaccine has also been a source of friction between countries.
Last month, a newspaper report alleged that the United States had attempted to buy exclusive rights to the vaccine investigation by CureVac, another German firm.
Although CureVac and US officials dismissed it as unfounded, the newspaper’s report caused outrage in Berlin and prompted Economy Minister Peter Altmaier to declare that “Germany is not for sale.”
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