DNA vaccine research is promising, NHRI saysBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) yesterday said that tests of its DNA vaccine against COVID-19 on hamsters was promising, with clinical trials likely to start later this year. The institute on July 1 chose the DNA vaccine among its four vaccine development platforms as its main focus and started animal testing, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology director Liao Ching-len (廖經倫) said. “The vaccine has shown the effect of significantly reducing the viral load and decreasing the damage that the virus caused to the lungs” of hamsters, he said. From left, National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) Bioproduction Plants Facility director Liu Shih-jen, Enimmune Corp director Lee Tsung-dao, NHRI Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology director Liao Ching-len and deputy director Chen Hsin-wei attend a news conference yesterday at the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taipei. Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times“With the DNA vaccine, we deliver genetic information [a plasmid containing the DNA sequence encoding the antigens against COVID-19] into the human body, and when it enters the cells, the cells produce spike proteins,” Liao said.

Source: Taipei Times August 10, 2020 15:56 UTC