One of the owners of the Los Angeles Lakers is developing a coronavirus vaccine that does not require an injection.
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and his team of researchers are testing whether oral pills could work in conjunction with – or even better than – vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration, CBS Los Angeles reported.
All three vaccines approved for emergency use in the US – from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson – work by creating antibodies that neutralize the spike protein that the coronavirus uses to enter and infect human cells .
But the team’s new vaccine targets the bulbous shape in the center of the virus, which doesn’t mutate often.
In addition, the team says the vaccine would be faster, cheaper, and easier to administer because it does not need to be stored at refrigerator or freezer temperatures.
Researchers at the Chan Soon-Shiong Research Institute are developing a new oral COVID-19 vaccine (above) that targets the bulbous shape at the center of the virus
One developer, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong (pictured), co-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, says the new vaccine would also generate T cells that bind to and kill viruses.
“Having a vaccine at room temperature, which could be a pill, is life-changing,” one of the researchers, Dr. Tara Seery of the Chan Soon-Shiong Research Institute for Medicine in El Segundo, California, told CBS Los Angeles.
For the trial, which is currently in Phase I, the team divided the volunteers into four groups to see how well the pills work.
One group received only pills, the second group only received an injection, the third group received pills and an injection, and the fourth received neither.
The new oral vaccine also targets a portion of the coronavirus that is less prone to mutations.
Most of the most widely recognized variants, including from the UK, South Africa and Brazil, have mutations that affect the virus’s spike protein.
This protein is what the coronavirus uses to ‘hijack’ human cells, make multiple copies of themselves, and spread throughout the body.
But the new oral vaccine attacks the center of the virus known as the lipid bilayer envelope, to which the spike protein is anchored.
“And the value of this is that we generate deadly T cells,” Soon-Shiong told CBS Los Angeles.
T cells are types of white blood cells that bind to and kill viruses.
The team believes that by generating both antibodies and T cells, recipients would have long-term protection.
On average, about three million adults are vaccinated every day, with a total of four million on weekends.
Currently 108.3 million Americans – 32.6% of the population – have received at least one dose and 63 million – 19% – are fully immunized
Soon-Chong says the researchers are also testing a combination of an injection and oral vaccines, because he thinks we need both to fight the virus.
“By injecting, we hope to develop T cells all over your body,” he told the station.
‘And by giving orally, we protect the mucous membranes, the intestines and hopefully the nose, the mouth, because that’s how the virus gets in. It doesn’t enter through your blood. ”
The trial is open to adults between the ages of 18 and 55 who have never tested positive for COVID-19 and are not immunodeficient. Those who want to register can go here.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 108.3 million Americans – 32.6 percent of the population – have received at least one dose, and 63 million – 19 percent – have been fully immunized.
On average, about three million adults are vaccinated every day, with a total of four million on weekends.
