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Early trial of COVID-19 vaccine booster begins in Manchester

日期:2021-09-23 浏览:310作者:UoM China Centre

A phase one trial of a multivariant COVID-19 Vaccine has been launched by US pharmaceutical company Gritstone in collaboration with The University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.

Initially involving participants aged 60+, its creators say the drug - called GRT-R910 – can boost the immune response of first-generation COVID-19 vaccines to a wide array of variants of Sars-Cov-2, which cause COVID-19.

The trial will take place at the NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility at Manchester Royal Infirmary, part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT).

Also supported by Health Innovation Manchester, the trial is expected to recruit 20 volunteers, with data evaluating the vaccine expected in the first quarter of 2022. Results from the preclinical studies leading up to the development of the vaccine will be jointly published by Gritstone and the National Institutes of Health later in the year.



Part of Gritstone’s CORAL program, GRT-R910 is a self-amplifying mRNA second generation SARS-CoV-2 vaccine – or SAM for short, which delivers antigens from both the spike and non-spike proteins.

SAM vaccines, say its creators, may offer the opportunity of lowering vaccine doses or eliminate the need of repeat administrations – with the potential to safely drive strong, durable and broad immune responses across SARS-CoV-2 variants.



SAM vaccines work by inducing special immune cells (CD8+ T cells), an important arm of the body’s immune response to viruses, as well as antibodies that can neutralise the virus and prevent it binding to and infecting cells. It is hoped that this will offer potential for robust and persistent immunity, which includes at-risk and older populations.

“Our SAM COVID-19 vaccine is designed to drive robust CD8+ T cell responses, in addition to strong neutralising antibody responses, offering the promise of longer lasting immunity,” said Andrew Allen, M.D Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gritstone.

He added: “Since viral surface proteins like the spike protein are evolving and sometimes partially evading vaccine-induced immunity, we designed GRT-R910 to have broad therapeutic potential against a wide array of SARS-CoV-2 variants by also delivering highly conserved viral proteins that may be less prone to genetic variation in the virus.

We think GRT-R910 as a booster vaccination will elicit strong, durable, and broad immune responses, which are likely to be critical in maintaining protection of this vulnerable elderly population who are particularly at risk of hospitalisation and death.

-- Professor Andrew Ustianowski

Professor Andrew Ustianowski, who is Clinical Lead for the NIHR COVID Vaccine Research Programme, Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at North Manchester General Hospital (part of MFT) and Honorary Clinical Chair at The University of Manchester, will be the local lead investigator for this study. Professor Ustianowski is Chief Investigator for the study and MFT is the chief site.



"We look forward to working with Gritstone in the clinical development of this promising next generation COVID-19 vaccine.”

The study will examine dose, safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of GRT-R910 at two dose levels at least four months after the second administration of their initial vaccine.

GRT-R910 is also being investigated as part of a US National Institute of Health sponsored Phase 1 study.

Additional trials of the CORAL platform, including an additional Phase-1 trial are also planned, which will inform the future development of CORAL, Gritstone’s SARS-COV-2 second generation vaccine programme.


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