GPO’s inactivated vaccine enters 2nd human trial after strong results
The Covid-19 vaccine jointly developed by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) and Mahidol University has begun phase 2 human trials after generating a strong immune response in phase 1, GPO chief Dr Witoon Danwiboon said on Monday.
The HXP-GPOVac inactivated vaccine was tested on 210 volunteers in phase 1 and produced only mild side effects such as temporary headaches and muscle ache.
It generated strong immunity against the original Wuhan strain of Covid-19 and lower immunity
against the Alpha, Delta, Gamma and Beta variants of the virus, Dr Witoon reported.
The HXP-GPOVac vaccine project is a collaboration with the US-based PATH global health organisation. The project has modified the Newcastle avian virus by adding a spike protein to generate an immune response against coronavirus. The resulting vaccine is grown in chicken eggs.
Dr Witoon said the second human trial will run until November when researchers will apply to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a third trial. He expects production of the first 20-30 million doses to begin at the GPO plant in Saraburi by the middle of next year after the vaccine is registered with the FDA.
