HOPE FOR UQ’S COVID-19 VACCINE TRIALS
THE nation’s biggest health company CSL says it has the capability to produce 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of next year if clinical trials are successful.
CSL has entered into a partnership with the University of Queensland and Norway’s Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to accelerate development, manufacturing and distribution of a vaccine. It expects it to be available in 2021.
Early preclinical results of
UQ’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate have shown it produces high levels of antibodies that can neutralise the virus.
The agreement formalises CSL’s commitment to lend all its resources into UQ’s vaccine research effort.
CSL and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations will fund the development and manufacture of UQ’s “molecular clamp” enabled vaccine to support a pending phase one safety study next month and later clinical trials. While there are a number of critical milestones to be met before the vaccine can be considered successful, CSL says it has the capability to produce up to 100 million doses towards the end of 2021 at its Melbourne factory.
“Should trials be successful, this vaccine holds the potential to provide protection against this urgent public health emergency for Australians and those around the world vulnerable to this devastating virus,” CSL chief scientific officer Andrew Cuthbertson said yesterday.
“CSL will contribute to UQ’s promising vaccine with our proprietary adjuvant, MF59, made by Seqirus, along with expertise in process science and scale up from our Australian facilities, managing advanced clinical trials and the large-scale manufacture of the recombinant vaccine.”
UQ vice chancellor Peter Hoj said the partnership with CSL was a “fantastic result” for the research team which has “worked tirelessly” on a vaccine that will benefit the world.