Second vaccine trial starts at Wits

WITS University has started a second vaccine trial for Covid-19.

The first trial was in June when Wits teamed up with the University of Oxford and the Jenner Institute on the Vida vaccine.

The latest Phase 2 trial will research if the nanoparticle S-protein, in the Covid-19 vaccine known as NVXCoV2373, protects against Covid-19 disease in adults aged 18 to 64.

Speaking during a webinar on Covid-19 last week, Professor Glenda Gray – a volunteer in the Vida trial – said: “We don’t want just one vaccine to work but we want more to work from different strategies. The more vaccines work, the more affordable they’ll be and the more doses we will have for countries.”

Wits Professor of Vaccinology Shabir Madhi is leading the two trials. Madhi is the executive director of the South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (Vida) at Wits and the Faculty of Health Sciences dean-elect.

He previously worked with Novavax as a lead investigator on the RSV vaccine for pregnant women, which aimed to prevent the most common cause of pneumonia in babies.

In pre-clinical studies, NVX-CoV2373 demonstrated the elicitation of antibodies that block the binding of spike protein to receptors targeted by the virus – a critical aspect for effective vaccine protection.

Studies of this Novavax vaccine in non-human primates have shown protection against Sars-Cov-2 infection in nasal passages and protection against lung disease.

In the Phase 1 clinical trial, NVXCoV2373 was generally well tolerated and elicited robust antibody responses.

“The major motivation for Covid19 vaccines being evaluated at an early stage in South Africa is to generate evidence in the African context on how well these vaccines work in settings such as our own.

“This would enable informed decision-making when advocating for the adoption of this vaccine candidate or other Covid-19 vaccines in African countries, once they are shown to be safe and effective.

“Participating in the clinical development of these vaccines at the outset will assist in advocating for South Africans to be among the first in line to access these life-saving vaccines, once they become available,” Madhi said.