SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, July 14. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The researcher at the Higher Center for Scientific Research (CSIC), Vicente Larraga, has expressed his desire to start human trials of the Spanish vaccine at the end of the year if there is a positive response from the Medicines Agency.
In a conference given on Wednesday afternoon at ‘Campus Africa’, he recalled that this vaccine “from day two prevents the replication of the virus, that is, it induces memory and generates antibodies at three months.”
Among the novelties for the application of the Spanish vaccine, the expert presented the use of the skin perfusion injector, a system that would allow a more effective distribution and inoculation, making it more accessible.
Larraga stressed that “a new wave of the virus” is being experienced, although at the moment only the elderly and those with previous pathologies and those who have not been vaccinated are entering.
“This is why it is important to continue raising awareness about the importance of continuing to vaccinate,” he said.
Thus, he insisted that the Covid-19 epidemic is still very active although “the new strains that arise due to virus mutations are faster but not more deadly.”
Likewise, he explained that in the latest data and studies carried out, an increase in myocarditis has been detected in people who have been hospitalized and that give rise to complications.
Larraga focused his presentation on the development of DNA vaccines, which are characterized by their direct introduction (DNA) so that it acts as an expression vector in mammalian cells, in addition to not requiring cold for its maintenance.
“We have used the model that we use to treat Leishmania to develop our vaccine against Covid 19, we have been working on this formulation for more than 30 years and their prior knowledge has been key,” he indicated.
The latest tests carried out have shown encouraging results by achieving the survival of the experimental models inoculated with the virus and with the previous application of the vaccine.
PATAROYO: IT IS NECESSARY TO FIX THE STRAINS OF MALARIA
In the same cycle, Dr. Manuel Alfonso Patarroyo, from the Institute of Immunology Foundation of Colombia, addressed the development of malaria in the world with the paper ‘Rational development of vaccines: The case of malaria’.
“Of the 250 species of malaria, there are only five that infect humans and develop especially in tropical areas,” he commented.
During his presentation, Patarroyo explained that one of the main problems when developing the vaccine is achieving the coincidence of the sequences of the different strains of malaria.
“To give you an idea, what you want to avoid is what is currently happening with the Covid-19 vaccine, whose current mutations escape the strains that are inoculated,” he pointed out.
To this he added the difficulty of obtaining enriched samples that allow the pathogen to be isolated in order to carry out the corresponding tests with ‘Plasmodium Vivax’.
This way of working has been extrapolated by the Foundation for the preparation of the vaccine against Covid-19, which, as detailed by the specialist, aims to be highly effective since it may be effective against circulating variants.
“We are very excited about this research that we arrived at by chance when SARS-Cov2 broke out, the truth is that our experience with ‘Plasmodium Vivax’ has been an advantage when it comes to research in this line,” he stressed.
Now, he said, “what we need is funds to be able to move on to production.”
