As countries and pharmaceutical giants race for an effective COVID-19 vaccine, Ukraine wants to develop its own.
Now, the developers of the Ukrainian vaccine candidate say that animal trials have shown promising results.
Diaprof-Med, a Ukrainian manufacturer of viral tests, and its partner, Atlanta-based DiaPrep System Inc., reportedly discovered a particular type of protein of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Researchers believe that this protein could be a natural antigen against the novel coronavirus. At the six-month pre-clinical phase, rabbits, mice and rats administered with the protein reportedly showed positive immune responses and developed antibodies to COVID-19.
“This gives us hope that this protein can become a vaccine,” Dr. Mikhail Favorov, president of DiaPrep System Inc., said at the press briefing in Kyiv on Oct. 22.
Favorov is a Ukrainian-born American epidemiologist who previously worked with the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and the International Vaccine Institute, a United Nations body.
Since Ukraine does not have a biosafety level 3 and higher laboratories, researchers had to send samples for trials to Turkey, France and the United States, Favorov said.
Researchers are now preparing to move to clinical trials on humans. The three phases are estimated to take one year. ‘
President Volodymyzr Zelensky called the Ukrainian vaccine candidate “unique” and “different from others.” The Ukrainian government pledged to finance the research in full.
Health Minister Maksym Stepanov called the Ukrainian vaccine candidate for COVID-19 “a major event.”
But the news of a potential Ukrainian-made COVID-19 vaccine sparked mockery and anger online. Some users laughed off the idea, saying that Ukraine has neither the public funds, nor the infrastructure for such scientific research.
The country’s Soviet-inherited science sector has long been underfunded and outdated, forcing young talents to search for careers abroad. The U.S, for instance, has allocated billions of dollars toward research and development of COVID-19 vaccines.
Stepanov responded to skeptics by saying that “it’s time to get rid of the national inferiority complex,” and that he believes in Ukrainian scientists and doctors.
The minister also said the government is in talks with pharmaceutical companies that are leading the research race, such as AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Sinovax and Moderna.
In total, 48 vaccines are currently in clinical trials on humans, according to the New York Times tracker. Of them, 11 are in the final phase 3.
At the same time, Ukraine has joined the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative for global distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, once it is created. Under this program, Ukraine can get approximately 8 million doses, or equivalent to 20% of its population.
