Israeli Lab Reports Progress in Quest for Coronavirus Vaccine

The Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) in Ness Ziona claimed that it has made further progress toward a coronavirus vaccine, and hopes to have a finished vaccine in a year, or possibly even earlier.

Vaccine tests on golden Syrian hamsters showed that a serum they have developed is effective. Testing on rodents is a key preliminary stage in developing medicines and enables further testing to begin on other animals. If those are also successful, the trials will move to humans to check the vaccine’s effectiveness and for any side effects.

The IIBR published on Friday a paper on biorxiv.com, a repository for scientific papers that have yet to be peer-reviewed and are therefore semi-official, and noted that “results in rapid and potent induction of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2,” the virus that causes COVID-19.

The IIBR is still required to go through three phases of human testing and other stages.

In May, the IIBR officially announced that it had completed the patent registration for eight coronavirus antibodies, another significant step towards the production of a cure for the pandemic.

Earlier, the IIBR announced that it had made a significant breakthrough in the fight on the coronavirus pandemic and had developed a potent antibody that attacks the virus.

About 100 research groups around the world are pursuing vaccines for the coronavirus.