The first advanced corona vaccines could be approved this year if successful, according to the German Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (vfa). “A number of manufacturers and institutes are working on vaccines and vaccination regimens that should also be effective against such new variants of Sars-CoV-2, for which the first-generation vaccines have so far offered only weaker protection,” a vfa spokesman said.
Three main strategies are being pursued: The first involves stronger immunization by activating the immune defenses even more, for example through antibodies. In the second case, work is being done on immunization against the so-called spike protein, which is located on the outer shell of the coronavirus, or against several such spike proteins. And finally, research is being conducted on immunization against other components of Sars-CoV-2 – such as the so-called nucleocapsid. This central part of the virus consists of the protein envelope (capsid) and the viral nucleic acid.
The vfa has listed several projects currently working on second-generation vaccines. These include, for example, a project with the participation of the University of Würzburg for an oral vaccination with genetically modified, live typhoid vaccine bacteria that carry two different proteins of Sars-CoV-2.
— source: kurier.at/picture: pixabay.com
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