With the world still reeling from the impact of Coronavirus, the announcement yesterday that an Australian factory in Melbourne has begun the production of a dosage for testing of a Coronavirus vaccine will bring joy to many. Scientists will begin testing the vaccine this week on animals.  It’s a huge progression for the disease that at the time of writing has been diagnosed in 77,800 cases and led directly to 2360 deaths.

The vaccine candidate was developed by the University of Queensland in their laboratory, in just three short weeks.

In just six weeks since they started work on the 11th January, the team of researchers has created their first vaccine candidate in the laboratory and will move immediately into further development before formal pre-clinical testing said the announcement from the University of Queensland yesterday, as they sent the vaccine to the CSIRO for development and manufacturing.

“The team has shown considerable progress in line with the highly accelerated time frame of the rapid response program, and the long hours in the lab have paid off with this achievement,” said UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj AC.

“There is still extensive testing to ensure that the vaccine candidate is safe and creates an effective immune response, but the technology and the dedication of these researchers means the first hurdle has been passed,” he said.

The university announced on the 24th January that the  Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) had requested the University use its recently developed rapid response technology to develop a new vaccine, which could be available worldwide in as little as six months.  UQ is one of only three programs globally working in the rapid process, and the only one in Australia.

The group continues to work to a much-accelerated timetable to keep on track for investigational clinical testing after the middle of the year.