Russia (bbabo.net), - What should a vaccine look like? "This is an ampoule or a bottle of liquid," you answer. Petersburg scientists from the Institute of Experimental Medicine have a different opinion.
The coronavirus vaccine they created is a fermented milk product (fermented baked milk or yogurt) and looks no different from similar ones packaged in bottles and sold in stores. You need to drink this vaccine, and it really tastes like fermented baked milk. Now the stage of preclinical trials (on animals) is coming to an end.
How does the ryazhenka vaccine work? Everyone knows about the benefits of probiotic bacteria. In order for fermented baked milk to become a vaccine, a small section of the viral genome is “embedded” into the genome of a bacterium useful for our body. And then the protein of the virus begins to be produced on its surface. It is he who is recognized by the immune system as foreign and the body begins to produce antibodies against it. Moreover, as the chief developer of the vaccine, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Department of Molecular Microbiology of the IEM Alexander Suvorov, specified, a portion of a real virus is not used to create a vaccine, only a synthesized piece of the genome. And this is quite enough to achieve a good immune response.
“Our vaccine, not yet getting into human cells (as it happens with traditional vaccines), begins to interact with the mucous membranes of the mouth and intestines. There are a huge number of cells that are responsible for recognizing antigens. And our bacterium just contains the viral antigen. There is an immune response to the antigen, that is, to the invasion of the enemy," explains Suvorov.
The new vaccine does not need special storage conditions, and it is easy to scale it up: it is enough to have conditions for the fermentation of lactic acid bacteria, that is, a temperature of about 37 degrees. Within a day, you can get a large amount of ryazhenka vaccine.
The new vaccine does not require special storage conditions, and it is easy to scale
The technology proposed by IEM has an important additional advantage. It can be transferred to any other pathogen. That is, if a genetically structured probiotic bacterium proves to be effective against coronavirus, in the event of the appearance of another pathogen, it can be easily adapted to a completely different variant by replacing a "piece of the viral genome."
Preclinical trials began with laboratory mice. Their state of health did not worsen at all, antibodies against the coronavirus began to develop well. Now they are testing it on hamsters - but already with infection with a real virus after vaccination. Hamsters are taken because mice do not get sick with coronavirus. The trials (they are taking place in another organization that has the right to work with the live COVID-19 virus) were completed by the end of 2021. In February this year, the data obtained should be systematized, on the basis of which the developers plan to submit a package of documents on the vaccine to the Russian Ministry of Health. If the application is approved, then it will be possible to proceed to clinical trials (on volunteers).
A number of IEM employees have already drunk Ryazhenka. No side effects were found. Even if someone fell ill in the future, the disease passed in a mild form.
Developers find it difficult to say when the vaccine may appear on the market. They call the end of 2022, if, of course, the vaccine receives approval from the Ministry of Health. Perhaps even faster if there is permission for accelerated implementation. The most important issue is funding. However, it is possible that the development will receive the status of a program of the Union State.
By the way
I found out how the vaccine is supposed to be taken. On the course you need two of her glasses. The first glass is divided into three parts, each of which is drunk every other day. Then a three-week break, after which the second glass is drunk in exactly the same way.
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