University of Pittsburgh develops new coronavirus "patch" vaccine

The study, published in The Lancet on April 2, 2020, is the first peer-reviewed COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the worldThe researchers were able to act quickly because the university had studied previous outbreaks of coronaviruses and was therefore able to act quickly"We conducted pilot studies on SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV in 2003 and 2014, respectively," said Andrea Gambotto, M.D., an associate professor of surgery at thePittsburgh Medical School and a co-author of the studyThrough our research, we found a special protein called the protrusion protein, which plays an important role in eliminating new coronaviruses in the human body, thus accelerating the production of the COVID-19 vaccinesaid the vaccine described in the study( known as "PittCoVacc," Pittsburgh's new coronavirus vaccine) follows a more mature approach, using laboratory-made fragments of protovirus protein, which works the same way as the current flu vaccine, compared to the experimental mRNA vaccine candidates that have just entered clinical trialsresearchers also designed a novel method called microneedle arrays to deliver drugs to improve their effectivenessThe array consists of 400 tiny needles that deliver fragments of the protrusion protein to the skin to produce the strongest immune responsePatches are used like a pin, and then the patch-like needles made entirely of sugar and protein fragments dissolve into the skin, causing an immune responsein experimental studies in mice showed that when young mice were vaccinated against the PittCoVacc for two weeks, they were able to produce a large number of antibodies against the new coronavirusAlthough time is limited, the study has not been long-term tracking of these animals, but the researchers note that mice vaccinated against MERS-CoV patch have produced enough antibodies to neutralize the virus for at least a year, and so far, the levels of antibodies produced by animals vaccinated against the new coronavirus pneumonia have largely followed the same trendmore importantly, the new coronavirus pneumonia patch vaccine can maintain its efficacy even after it has been thoroughly sterilized by gamma rays, a key step in the development of vaccine products suitable for human usein addition, the vaccine is highly replicableThis prototyping protein can be mass-produced through genetically engineered cells for large-scale industrial purificationA large array of microneedles can be produced by placing specific protein-sugar compounds into centrifuge centrifugal degradation and then in moldsOnce produced on a large scale, these vaccines do not need to be refrigerated, maintain a stable state at room temperature, reduce transportation costs, and are more prone to mass production than other vaccinescurrently, the study authors are applying for approval for an investigative new drug from the U.SFood and Drug Administration (FDA) to enter a phase-first clinical trial as soon as possible"As it turns out, patient testing is required for a year or more, but given the critical circumstances, the recently announced revisions to the normal process suggest that we may be moving the process forward more quickly," saidFalo(Note: Original text)original title: "Dynamic" University of Pittsburgh, USA, developing a COVID-19 "patch" vaccine