The Program for the Study and Control of Tropical Diseases of the University of Antioquia (Pecet) is in charge of calling and choosing the volunteers.
After two years of pandemic, the intranasal vaccines They continue to present themselves as one of the best alternatives to deal with covid-19.
The Chinese Pharmaceutical Wantai BioPharm chose Pecet (research group attached to the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Antioquia) to lead the department the third stage of clinical trials of its intranasal biological.
Although current intramuscular vaccines are successful (such as Moderna, Pfizer or Sinovac), scientists are still searching for a nasal drug because it is believed that with this a sterilizing immune response might be achieved, that is, a response so powerful that it prevents the development of the infection.
This would be a great advance because remember that current vaccines protect you from serious illness and death, but not from becoming infected or be asymptomatic.
they’ve done it before
This is the second time that the Pecet has been chosen as a guide for this type of test. In August 2020 they also advanced Johnson & Johnson vaccine research.
“Janssen studies were carried out in 180 programs or specialized centers and we are in the top five”, said Iván Darío Vélez Bernal, director of Pecet, in the official note.
For this case, around the world there will be around 32,000 volunteers, 3,000 of them in Colombia, and regarding 500 in Antioquia.
What does the vaccine consist of?
Through small syringes, which do not end in a needle, they will be applied in each nostril the two doses of the biological with an interval of 14 days.
In this way the mucosa of the nose, mouth and throat will be impregnated and will motivate the immune response as the virus does under natural conditions.
Added to this, according to Professor Vélez, since the vaccine uses the external structure of the influenza virus, it might even be a preventive drug for both microorganisms.
the path they have traveled
For a medicine to be marketed, it must pass different tests that focus on evaluating its safety and efficacy.