Expanding its efforts to bring COVID-19 vaccines to fruition, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) invested $620,000 into the development of a new vaccine candidate designed by the University of Hong Kong.
“I’m thankful for the support from CEPI,” HKU President Xiang Zhang said. “The University of Hong Kong has outstanding researchers in emerging infectious diseases. I’m hopeful the vaccine being developed in our labs will contribute to the containment of COVID-19.”
This vaccine was created using a weakened version of the flu virus that was adapted to express the surface protein of the COVID-19 virus, SARS-CoV-2. The researchers note this approach has previously yielded a preclinical vaccine candidate for another coronavirus: MERS. CEPI’s involvement stems from its own call for proposals issued in February, in a move to rapidly upscale the timeline of COVID-19 treatments.
“We now have 7 COVID-19 vaccines in development, and we plan to initiate more projects in the coming days and weeks,” Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEPI CEO, said. “Be under no illusion – vaccine development is tough. It is complex and costly, but CEPI was set-up specifically to overcome these challenges to rapidly develop vaccines against emerging infectious threats like the COVID-19 virus. There are no guarantees of success, but we are working flat out and, if all goes well, hope that a safe and effective vaccine will begin to become available for individuals at greatest risk within the next 12-18 months.”
To date, CEPI has invested $24.3 million into COVID-19 vaccine research and development. For HKU, the coalition could invest further funding if its preclinical testing proves successful.