UK scientists to make a million potential COVID-19 vaccines before proof

A million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed by British scientists are already being manufactured and will be available by September, even before trials prove whether the shot is effective, the team said on Friday.

According to a report in Reuters At least five of those are in preliminary testing in people.

The Oxford scientists said on Friday they were recruiting volunteers for early stage - Phase 1 - human trials of their shot, and large-scale production capacity was being put in place “at risk”. This means the shots will be produced in large numbers at risk of being useless if trials show they do not work.

“We have started at risk manufacturing of this vaccine not just on a smallish scale ... but with a network of manufacturers in as many as seven different places around the world,” Adrian Hill, a professor and director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, told reporters in an online briefing.

“The aim is to have at least a million doses by around about September, when we also hope to have efficacy (trial) results.”

He said three of the manufacturing partners were in Britain, two in Europe, one in India and one in China.

The scientists said initial manufacturing costs would be in “tens of millions” of pounds and acknowledged the investment risk of pressing ahead with production before verification.

More than 2.14 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 143,744 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Hill’s team said they plan to start safety and then mid-stage efficacy trials of their potential COVID-19 vaccine in adults aged between 18 and 55 within weeks.

They then plan to expand the trial group to older age groups later, and hope to run a final phase trial with around 5,000 volunteers in the late summer.