By Shao Longfei, Wang Di and Wang Jingyi
BEIJING, July 30 -- The clinical research data of the recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) in inhalation form developed by Chinese military medical scientist Chen Wei and her team has been published on the famous international academic journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases on July 26. It is also the world's first publication of the clinical trial results on mucosal immunity of COVID-19 vaccines.
The results showed that the vaccine is safe and has no adverse reactions caused by intramuscular injection. During vaccination, the recipient only needs to inhale to obtain triple protection of mucosal immunity, cellular immunity and humoral immunity. The dosage required to obtain the same level of cellular immune response is only 1/5 of that for intramuscular injection. In addition, high levels of neutralizing antibodies can be produced if nebulized inhalation is used to boost immunity after intramuscular injection.
Compared with the same type of intramuscular vaccine developed by Chen Wei's team, the vaccine is completely consistent in terms of formulation prescription, packaging form and production facilities, and only differs in vaccination method and dosage. In addition, the process of putting the vaccine into the nebulizer is much more simple and convenient.
Hou Lihua, a researcher at the Institute of Military Medicine under the Academy of Military Sciences, said that on the one hand, the vaccine does not require injection, and there will be no adverse reactions such as arm pain and swelling, which will help increase people's willingness to get vaccinated. On the other hand, the dosage of nebulized inhalation vaccine is very low, which is equivalent to a substantial increase in vaccine production capacity. Besides, nebulized inhalation can exert significant multiple immune effects and resist COVID-19 variants for people who have been vaccinated and thus it is suitable for large-scale promotion.
This clinical trial was launched in Wuhan in September 2020 and was co-hosted by the Institute of Military Medicine under the Academy of Military Sciences and Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University. The Phase II clinical trial is currently underway in an orderly manner. Next, the researchers will continue to race against time and actively apply for emergency use of the vaccine.
Previously, the recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Adenovirus Vector) developed by the team led by Chen Wei was conditionally approved by China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) on February 25, as the first domestically-made adenovirus vector COVID-19 vaccine. It is a single-dose vaccine and can be transported and stored at 2-8°C. At present, the vaccine has obtained emergency use authorizations in Mexico, Pakistan, Hungary, Chile, Argentina and other countries.