# U Pittsburgh School of Medicine unveiling candidate vaccine for Coronavirus. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [April 3, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934 "2020-04-03T04:28:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934/1 "2020-04-03T04:28:28Z")
The research sounds promising. Dr. Andrea Gambotto has been working on Coronavirus since SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV outbreaks. I hope the FDA slashes the red tape and allows clinical human trials. The 2nd wave of Covid-19 is expected later this summer. A vaccine would save lives and the world’s economies. > **[Coronavirus In Pittsburgh: Pitt Researchers Unveil Potential COVID-19 Vaccine](https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/university-of-pittsburgh-medical-school-coronavirus-potential-vaccine-unveiled/)** > > The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is unveiling a possible candidate vaccine for the Coronavirus pandemic that has spread across the world. > [@](#): > > Multiple medical doctors and PhDs were involved in the collaboration at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC, and funding came from three NIH institutes. > > Their work on this new vaccine delivery method is being published in the peer-review journal, Lancet’s EBioMedicine. Click here to see and read the report. > > Doctors believe it could change the way vaccines are delivered to people worldwide. > > It looks like a small piece of Velcro, and it is officially called a Microneedle Array. > **[UPDATE: U. of Pgh. reports successful COVID-19 vaccine trial](https://www.sharonherald.com/covid-19/u-of-pgh-reports-successful-covid-19-vaccine-trial/article_83fa7c8c-74ea-11ea-a350-d7ac329b1808.html)** > > Updated at 12:56 p.m. > [@](#): > > PITTSBURGH – A lead researcher on the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s COVID-19 vaccine project said the treatment is seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical human trials. > > Dr. Louis Falo, co-author of a paper published today that outlines successful animal trials for a potential vaccine, said the typical approval period for a treatment of this type would take almost two years. > > “But these pandemic conditions are not normal,” Falo said Thursday in a press conference to announce the vaccine development. “We are speaking with the FDA and we’re hoping to start this process as soon as possible.” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934/2 "2020-04-03T13:06:48Z")
Press conference announcement. The news video at the top of the page summaries the research done. > **[UPMC announces potential COVID-19 vaccine](https://www.wtae.com/article/upmc-to-discuss-potential-covid-19-vaccine-on-thursday/32014437)** > > UPMC and scientists from Pitt Health Sciences announced a potential vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic. > [@](#): > > Compared to the experimental mRNA vaccine candidate that just entered clinical trials, the vaccine developed at Pitt “follows a more established approach, using lab-made pieces of viral protein to build immunity,” which is the same way the flu shot works. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934/3 "2020-04-03T13:18:32Z")
The red tape also saves lives. Yeah, this vaccine is probably safe… but you want to know for sure, before you go and inject it into half the population. This isn’t even the first vaccine developed for this virus. Pretty much every biomedical research lab on the globe is working on it, and several have made progress faster than this. But they all need to be tested, because if there’s not, there’s the chance we could make things worse, not better. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934/4 "2020-04-03T15:13:44Z")
I’m feeling more confident that a vaccine will be developed. The best and brightest minds in the world are getting close to an answer. The Pitt study sounds very promising. But we can’t get too excited until the human clinical trials. Does it work? Side effects? Is it safe! There’s a lot of questions to answer. The 2nd wave of Covid-19 has me really worried. This first round is projected to kill 100,000 in the US. We need a vaccine before round 2. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934/5 "2020-04-03T17:25:45Z")
Yeah we will get a vaccine, but I keep hearing 12-18 months until it is proven safe and effective. The problem is a vaccine that only partially matches the antigens of a pathogen can make the disease worse rather than better. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934/6 "2020-04-04T00:03:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The red tape also saves lives. Yeah, this vaccine is probably safe… but you want to know for sure, before you go and inject it into half the population. > > This isn’t even the first vaccine developed for this virus. Pretty much every biomedical research lab on the globe is working on it, and several have made progress faster than this. But they all need to be tested, because if there’s not, there’s the chance we could make things worse, not better. Thanks for pointing this out. I’m starting to feel like a broken record, but this is important and none of the reporting ever goes into it. This is a really big deal. That red tape is there because without it, people die- OR WORSE- MUCH WORSE > **[The Woman Who Stood Between America and a Generation of 'Thalidomide Babies'](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/woman-who-stood-between-america-and-epidemic-birth-defects-180963165/)** > > How the United States escaped a national tragedy in the 1960s There is some prioritization that can be done to speed things up. There might be some requirements that can be waived, with very careful consideration first. But every one of those regs represents some time something went terribly wrong. I’ve worked with the FDA (as a sponsor, not employee) and they aren’t stupid or deaf. I am sure they are doing everything they can. ---
**Author:** ![Harrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac8455/32.png) [@Harrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harrington)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934/7 "2020-04-04T03:09:00Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Yeah we will get a vaccine, but I keep hearing 12-18 months until it is proven safe and effective. I keep hearing this too, for three months. Shouldn’t we at 9-15 now? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934/8 "2020-04-04T03:53:44Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The research sounds promising. Dr. Andrea Gambotto has been working on Coronavirus since SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV outbreaks. Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but SARS was 17 years ago. Call me crazy, but if the research was that good, I would have expected vaccine trials by now. But what do I know? ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934/9 "2020-04-04T05:05:35Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but SARS was 17 years ago. Call me crazy, but if the research was that good, I would have expected vaccine trials by now. But what do I know? When the danger of SARS went away, much of the funding for a SARS vaccines also went away. This is the type of thing that is pointed to when people talk about not being prepared for a pandemic. No private company wants to develop a vaccine there is no market for, and a vaccine against last decade’s epidemic doesn’t seem that profitable. There are government programs which promise to buy vaccines even if they don’t treat a current threat, but it can be hard to find funding for something that isn’t _currently_ a problem. The 12-18 months also includes manufacturing. Typically manufacturing issues wouldn’t be addressed until the vaccine had passed several stages of trials. No point in figuring out how to mass produce something if it doesn’t work. This is one of the things that will speed up the process. They will be working on production issues at the same time trials are being conducted for potential SARS-2 vaccines. Then, if the vaccine is safe and effective, it can be put into production quickly. Depending on the exact type of vaccine, it will still take months to produce enough to vaccinate the world. Just as we can quickly come up with vaccines for different strains of the influenza virus, hopefully one thing that will come out of this, possibly not as the first vaccine, but later, is a standard corona virus vaccine blueprint. Then when a new one emerges, the factories can be in production before the first cruise ship docks. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934/10 "2020-04-04T14:58:35Z")
> [@Harrington](#): > > I keep hearing this too, for three months. Shouldn’t we at 9-15 now? Maybe? But probably not. The 12-18 month thing was assuming some corners were cut and something popped up almost immediately. It’s basically “if all the stars align and manna fell from the heaven, we might have something workable” kind of estimate. Maybe it will be more like 9-15 and I’m hoping it is, but I’m also not holding my breath. > [@China\_Guy](#): > > Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but SARS was 17 years ago. Call me crazy, but if the research was that good, I would have expected vaccine trials by now. But what do I know? Each virus is different, even if they are all coronaviruses. Look at all the annual effort we put into the flu vaccine, and we get the mix wrong on that much of the time. Extra knowledge about helps, but that’s no guarantee. Also, there already [ARE](https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-clinical-trial-investigational-vaccine-covid-19-begins) trials ongoing. But it’ll still be at least a year, at minimum, for the trials to determine if potential treatments are safe and/or effective and to get manufacturing up to speed. And that’s with shortcuts. A candidate vaccine is just a candidate. If it doesn’t pan out, it means something else has to be tried, which is extra time. To get something in as little as a year, as I mentioned above, everything has to line up correctly on the first go. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_from\_CB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/278dde/32.png) [@Alex\_from\_CB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_from_CB)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934/11 "2020-04-06T22:54:03Z")
The University of Pittsburgh? That’s where Dr. Jonas Salk worked when he and his staff discovered the vaccine for polio. As one who was born in 1950 just the word polio put terror into my mother’s demeanor. Even as someone under age 5, I could feel that. So let’s go you Pitt Panthers Med School. You’re uniquely qualified to finding this current vaccine based on experience. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-pittsburgh-school-of-medicine-unveiling-candidate-vaccine-for-coronavirus/850934/12 "2020-04-07T04:13:18Z")
[When will a coronavirus vaccine be ready?](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/06/when-will-coronavirus-vaccine-be-ready) (Guardian today) > [@](#): > > About 35 companies and academic institutions are racing to create such a vaccine, at least four of which already have candidates they have been testing in animals. The first of these – produced by Boston-based biotech firm Moderna – will enter human trials imminently. > > This unprecedented speed is thanks in large part to early Chinese efforts to sequence the genetic material of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. China shared that sequence in early January, allowing research groups around the world to grow the live virus and study how it invades human cells and makes people sick. > > But there is another reason for the head start. Though nobody could have predicted that the next infectious disease to threaten the globe would be caused by a coronavirus – flu is generally considered to pose the greatest pandemic risk – vaccinologists had hedged their bets by working on “prototype” pathogens. “The speed with which we have [produced these candidates] builds very much on the investment in understanding how to develop vaccines for other coronaviruses,” says Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Oslo-based nonprofit the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), which is leading efforts to finance and coordinate Covid-19 vaccine development. > > …taking a vaccine candidate all the way to regulatory approval typically takes a decade or more, and why President Trump sowed confusion when, at a meeting at the White House on 2 March, he pressed for a vaccine to be ready by the US elections in November – an impossible deadline. **“Like most vaccinologists, I don’t think this vaccine will be ready before 18 months,”** says Annelies Wilder-Smith, professor of emerging infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. That’s already extremely fast, and it assumes there will be no hitches. My emphasis. Eighteen months. Hang on.