A COVID-19 vaccine created at the University of Saskatchewan’s VIDO-Intervac has tested safe in two ferrets.
VIDO Intervac Director Dr. Volker Gerdts says they used the prototype vaccine on the ferrets twice and there were no issues. He says these are very positive results, with the next step being to actually infect the ferrets with the novel coronavirus in the first week of May. The animals will then be monitored to see if the vaccine works or not.
Dr. Gerdts explains a prototype vaccine is being manufactured that will be safety tested in the Summer, without any complications VIDO-Intervac hopes to begin human testing in the fall.
VIDO-Intervac has also been able to create an additional animal model in hamsters. Gerdts says vaccines can now be tested in hamsters to get an extra level of confidence for the potential vaccine and they can now do extra work into alternate approaches like anti-virals, drugs and therapeutics to potentially help people now.
On Thursday the Federal government announced an investment of $650 million will be spent on vaccine development. 23 million of that is for VIDO-InterVac to accelerate development of a vaccine against COVID-19. Dr. Gerdts saying says this additional funding will go towards phase one and two of human testing, which enrolls many volunteers and can be expensive.
Gerdts also to recognized the provincial and federal government’s support, saying they are looking out for Canadians with these investments.
Additional Funding for Vaccine Manufacturing Facility
Recently $12 million was also invested to VIDO-Intervac for a Vaccine Manufacturing Facility. Dr. Gerdts says the funds allowed them to complete their budget and put money in place to build to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards, which he says will allow them make vaccines for humans. Dr. Gerdts says the construction will likely take about a year, at that time they can begin manufacturing vaccine batches in the facility. Gerdts suggests that depending how COVID-19 evolves, they may be able to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine in Saskatchewan at that point. He says the concept behind the facility is to be prepared for other events like this pandemic. This will help fight future emerging diseases by increasing the vaccine capacity in the country.
Work on N95 Masks
Dr. Gerdts says a group of staff members have begun to decontaminate N95 masks in VIDO-Intervac’s containment level 3 facility. He explains they should be able to help with several thousand masks a week and could increase that amount depending on the needs going forward. These mask will be used as an emergency back-up supply for hospitals if the need arises during the pandemic.
