A Phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine trial was launched in York today by Mendicago and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in partnership with the University of York.
The study will involve 150 local people aged 18-40 taking part in a trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of the new vaccine candidate.
The trial will be run at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals in collaboration with the University of York.
York is one of nine locations across the UK taking part in the global trial, which will include up to 30,000 participants from 10 countries.
Participants will receive two doses of either the vaccine or a placebo, both administered 21 days apart as part of a double-blind trial.
To be eligible, participants must have not received another Covid-19 vaccine or have previously tested positive for Covid-19.
The first plant-based vaccine, this promises the potential of being easier to develop in lower-income countries where manufacturing capacity for traditional vaccines is limited.
Professor Charles Lacey from Hull York Medical School, the Principal Investigator of the trial said:
“Clinical studies are important for medical advances. Current available vaccines are only available because of research study volunteers. Although there are several approved COVID-19 vaccines available, research is ongoing to provide more options, since all vaccines may work differently in providing protection against Covid-19. The vaccine we are trialling showed very exciting results in phase 1/2 studies.”
Further information on the trial and the opportunity to sign up for the clinical study is available here.
Participants are being recruited within the next three weeks.