Ukraine is developing a 'unique vaccine' against COVID-19: what is known about it

The other day, scientists presented to Vladimir Zelensky the first results of preclinical studies of the “original Ukrainian vaccine candidate” against COVID-19. Soon the president gave an interview in which he showered compliments on the new development, writes Air force.

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“It is unique - it is not pathos or populism. It is unique, it is not like others, that is the key of this vaccine. You don't understand what happened to me and some other serious people when we heard about the results of this Ukrainian vaccine. We were very happy,” he said.

The President added that it is too early to disclose all information about it, since the “vaccine” has yet to undergo clinical trials. According to Zelensky, they have been working on it for about six months, but have not yet studied it in humans.

If necessary, the president promised, he would be ready to try it on himself: “I would be happy to. If they say yes (I’ll test it. - Ed.). "

We tell you what is now known about the “unique Ukrainian vaccine” and what experts think about it.

Who are the developers and what is this vaccine

As Minister of Health Maxim Stepanov said, among the developers of the vaccine are the American company DiaPrep System Inc, the Ukrainian company Diaprof-Med and Ukrainian scientists from the Institute of Microbiology and Virology of the National Academy of Sciences.

The vaccine developers are publicly represented by Doctor of Medical Sciences Mikhail Favorov. At one time he was deputy director general of the International Vaccine Institute at the UN. Now he heads the company DiaPrep System Inc - the same one that Stepanov recalled on the list of developers.

Favorov said that the development is the result of the work of Ukrainian scientists, and he was attracted to the project as an “extra-class specialist” who has extensive connections in the medical industry.

According to him, it is too early to call the “Ukrainian vaccine” a vaccine - for now it is, in his own words, a “prototype of a prototype”, which at the same time has good potential.

During a press conference on the future drug, Favorov explained that we are talking about a recombinant vaccine: scientists, he says, have developed a protein in the laboratory that makes it possible to obtain antibodies that neutralize the virus.

Now exclusively preclinical studies of the development were carried out - it was tested on mice, rats, and rabbits.

“We were able to show that monoclonal antibodies from mice that we immunized with our protein prevented the virus from destroying the cell culture. That is, they, this has already been scientifically proven, protect cells from the action of the virus,” says Favorov.

The next stage is the direct development of the vaccine and conducting clinical trials, that is, testing on humans.

“This is a long process. It includes three phases of verification, many, many difficulties. But it is already clear that over time we will be able to obtain a drug that will protect against COVID-19,” Favorov explained.

On the subject: 'Not everyone knows why they came': how the Russian vaccine against COVID-19 is tested in humans

How much will it cost and how long to wait

According to Maxim Stepanov, the state is ready to finance the production of the vaccine in full. Roughly we are talking about an amount of more than 100-150 million hryvnia (3,5-5,3 million dollars).

The entire process of creating the drug, Favorov clarifies, can take at least 9 months - “if everything goes absolutely smoothly.” The actual timeframe is at least a year.

“There are processes that cannot be accelerated. You cannot use an untested vaccine,” he notes.

Both Maxim Stepanov and Vladimir Zelensky have already managed to assure that if effective foreign vaccines against COVID-19 appear in the near future, then no one will wait for the development of the Ukrainian version.

“If someone has a vaccine earlier, we will start purchasing it in any case. We won’t wait for ours—we’ll add it later,” the president explained.

Maxim Stepanov turned to critics who do not believe in the potential of the Ukrainian vaccine, or who are generally ironic about the very possibility of such a drug appearing.

“I want to address the skeptics. Sometimes you come across opinions in the press that this is (the development of a vaccine) in Ukraine. Ed.) impossible. It seems to me that this is our kind of inferiority complex that needs to be removed. I believe in Ukrainian scientists, Ukrainian doctors and Ukrainian development,” says the Minister of Health.

“Ig Nobel Prize Candidates”?

The news of work on a Ukrainian vaccine caused heated discussion - both among ordinary social network users and among specialists.

Epidemiologist, chairman of the public union “National Medical Chamber of Ukraine” Sergei Kravchenko, on the air of the “Right to Power” program, called the whole story with the Ukrainian vaccine “cheap PR.”

“This is not a debatable topic at all. Discussing this level of laboratory work by a student at the Faculty of Biology at Shevchenko University is ignorance of the highest level. Ukrainian doctors and scientists can turn to Mike Abrahams, the man who founded the Ig Nobel Prize,” he said emotionally. “Unfortunately, this year the award ceremony has already taken place, so I think we will present this ‘achievement’ to the Ig Nobel Committee next year.”

In a conversation with BBC News Ukraine, Kravchenko assured that what Mikhail Favorov is talking about “has nothing to do with science.”

“In theory, everything he talks about could be realized. But in practice, this would not lead to anything, especially to something that would allow the creation of a vaccine that would have specificity for coronavirus disease. To understand this, it’s enough to take an eighth grade biology textbook,” says Kravchenko.

On the subject: Fever and severe headache: COVID-19 vaccine test subjects report their well-being

“You can’t be sure of anything in Ukraine”

Fyodor Lapiy, Ph.D., infectious disease specialist, is less straightforward in his assessments, although he also does not hide a certain skepticism about the potential of the Ukrainian vaccine.

“If we take the biological component, what is voiced is, in general, quite logical. The technology itself is not new - similar ones are used to create vaccines against hepatitis B and human papillomavirus,” he says in an interview with BBC News Ukraine.

According to Lapiy, the specialists had certain questions about how they studied the neutralization of the virus, given that there are no laboratories in Ukraine for working with SARS-CoV-2. But during a press conference, Favorov explained that this was happening in American laboratories.

“The protein that was taken as the basis for the formation of an immune response is known; back in the summer there was information that it could become the basis for the formation of a vaccine. But how unique this vaccine is, as they say, remains to be seen. Many similar types of vaccine candidates are currently being developed and tested in a number of countries, all using different types of proteins to test the immune response. How unique the Ukrainian version is is the question, and we must wait for the details, which, I hope, will be in the scientific press,” reflects Lapiy.

The infectious disease specialist says that at first he was very skeptical about the statements about the development of a Ukrainian vaccine, but that skepticism later eased somewhat. However, doubts remain.

“Knowing how often loud statements appear in Ukraine, you understand that anything can happen here. And as the details are sorted out, all of these hopeful things could end up being eligible for an Ig Nobel Prize. Therefore, it is too early to draw conclusions,” the expert believes.

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