China’s CanSino Biologics on Monday reported preliminary results of its Phase II COVID-19 vaccine trial, and there was promising news. But it was overshadowed by the results of the Oxford-AstraZeneca University vaccine, also published Monday in the magazine. The lancet. Both vaccines, among the top contenders in the global race for a coronavirus immunization drug, produced strong immune responses with only minor side effects, but older trial participants showed significantly weaker responses in the CanSino trial, suggesting that two doses may be necessary.
The CanSino vaccine appears “rather weak compared to other candidate vaccines (to the extent that comparisons are possible),” said Professor John Moore of the Weill Cornell School of Medicine. However, comparing the immune response between different vaccines is tricky, he added, “how to judge a beautiful baby photo contest when each mother uses a different Instagram filter.”
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and the CanSino candidate use genetically inactivated adenoviruses that mimic the new coronavirus and stimulate an immune response. But while the Oxford vaccine uses an adenovirus found in chimpanzees, CanSino is based on an adenovirus that causes the common cold in humans. Monday’s CanSino study “revealed that people who had previously been exposed to the cold virus showed weaker immune responses to the coronavirus vaccine, presumably because their immune systems focused on the family component of the vaccine, the cold virus. weakened, instead of SARS-CoV -2, ” Political Explain
CanSino and Oxford-AstraZeneca already have large-scale phase III trials underway to judge the efficacy of their vaccines, and CanSino’s is the only COVID-19 vaccine approved for use, although approval is limited to the Chinese military. Reports Monday show that “each of these vaccines is worth taking into a Phase III study,” says Dr. Peter Jay Hotez, a vaccine researcher at Baylor College of Medicine. The New York Times. “That’s it. All it means is ‘worth pursuing.'”
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