Thailand’s plant-based COVID-19 vaccine starts human trials

[Jonathan Fairfield]

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - Another potential COVID-19 vaccine developed in Thailand is entering clinical trials, this time a protein subunit vaccine produced from plants by a Thai pharmaceutical startup. If successful, the vaccine is expected to become available in Q3 next year.

 

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul, together with the Department of Medical Sciences director and the director of the National Vaccine Institute, has inspected the model plant-based medicines and biological products manufacturing facility, at which a new type of COVID-19 vaccine made from the tobacco plant will be produced.

 

The candidate vaccine, developed by a pharmaceutical startup Baiya Phytopharm, together with the Faculty of Pharmacy at Chulalongkorn University, has been in development since February 2020.

 

Designed as a protein subunit vaccine, this vaccine will introduce selected SARS-CoV-2 antigens into the recipient’s body to stimulate an immune response, unlike the viral vector or mRNA technologies which require the body to express these antigens itself.

 

The antigen will be grown and harvested in tobacco leaves, using a bacteria to transfer specific coronavirus genetic information into the plant. The modified tobacco plant which now carries the antigen will be farmed in a plantation. The plants will be harvested, the antigen extracted, then purified and made into a vaccine. The team plans to conduct the purification process at the Kingen Biotech’s facility, before bottling at the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute.

 

The Chula-Baiya candidate vaccine will start Phase 1 of human trials early next month with around 100 subject, to establish the appropriate dosage, either 10, 50, or 100 micrograms. The team aims to introduce the vaccine for use by Thai people in Q3 2022, with production capacity at 60 million doses a year. They also say the plant-based technology allows the vaccine to be easily adapted for newer variants.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-08-15

 

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[mtls2005]

This actually seems like a thing.

 

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210719/Plant-based-vaccines-for-COVID-19-and-other-viruses.aspx

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d43747-020-00537-y

 

 

Issues would seem to include: time to market, efficacy, dealing with mutations. 

 

Upside: smoking is good for you?

[ThailandRyan]

So it will be like Snuff.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki
Web results
Snuff (tobacco) - Wikipedia

[Thailand]

Perhaps use the Cannabis plantand have the Happy Vaccine?

[khunPer]

In the beginning of the pandemic there were some observations published in the news that smokers were slightly protected against Covid-19 - actually little surprising - but I never saw any follow up stories.

 

I tried to find some sources, and it seems like it's been a misunderstanding...

A number of recent studies have found low percentages of smokers among COVID-19 patients, causing scientists to conclude that smokers may be protected against SARS-CoV-2 infection. National and international media were interested in this story and we soon began receiving questions about this topic in general practice. In this article, we shed light on the process that resulted in the misinterpretation of observational research by scientists and the media. We also point out the methodological flaws of various studies on which hasty conclusions were based. Finally, we address the role of primary healthcare providers in mitigating the consequences of erroneous claims about a protective effect of smoking.

Source: Nature "Are smokers protected against SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19)? The origins of the myth".

 

[Tony125]

They need proven effective vaccines now not waiting a year from now  in the hope thatnthis plant vaccine will work. How many million cases by then and deaths if not enough real vaccines are  aquired now.

[BusyB]

https://www.dw.com/en/covid-19-special-could-a-vegan-vaccine-save-the-world/av-58860187

Some interesting insights here even if no mention of Thailand ...

[Pattaya Spotter]

I thought the hua yais at Chula were perfecting an mRNA vaccine...it's plants now ????

[Maybole]

The Covid-19 virus is now likely to be around for a very long time. Any new vaccine is welcome and a plant based one (if it works) is likely to be cheaper and quicker to produce than the laboratory modified DNA etc ones . Let us wait and see..

[sezze]

What kind of b ****it more are we gonna get . You can make all kinds of stupid phrases but chemistry is chemistry . Where ever it comes from is a load of <deleted> . In the end you are making a vaccine which in my textbook , MRNA , inactivated virus , live virus , ...you make or have some kind of proteins in some sort of combo . Proteins are the building blocks of RNA/DNA and since you want to use something which your body can recognize as incoming virus , you need something which replicates it in a less harmful way then the original virus . Were ever the chemicals come from does not matter since you are making something else with it , a process called SYNTHESIS .

You can make water from H2 and O2 , but you can also make water from petroleum or from cheese . In the end the result is the same H2O . Where ever it comes from is pure advertising bull .... .

BTW , if they can make a vaccine , it is always good , but saying ooohhh it's plant based is just like i said before .

[HeijoshinCool]

20 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

The team aims to introduce the vaccine for use by Thai people in Q3 2022,

.

Geez, more whining to come on this forum now.

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

If successful, the vaccine is expected to become available in Q3 next year.

Sadly it looks like there will still be plenty of unvaccinated adults in Thailand for this to be tried out on.... I might well still be one of them. 

[Damrongsak]

19 hours ago, Thailand said:

Perhaps use the Cannabis plantand have the Happy Vaccine?

HappiVax - Get Covid but you'll never know the difference. And sales of snack foods will generate billions.

[mikebell]

23 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

The antigen will be grown and harvested in tobacco leaves,

In the absence of vaccines, smoke your way clear of Covid. How Thai.

[Anythingleft?]

Adding another one the already long list of ongoing human trial vaccines......