Is the vaccine to thwart the new Coronavirus stored in a Houston freezer?

MSN ^ | 02/24/2020 | Todd Acketman

[SeekAndFind]

Scientists around the world are scrambling to develop a vaccine to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, but the best candidate might be an experimental one stored in a Houston freezer.

The vaccine, developed by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers, effectively protected mice against SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, the virus from the same family that spread in the early 2000s. The vaccine never progressed to human testing because manufacturing of it wasn’t completed until 2016, long after SARS had burned out.

“It generated zero interest from pharmaceutical companies,” said Peter Hotez, a Baylor vaccine researcher and infectious disease specialist. “Because the virus was no longer circulating, their response was essentially, ‘thanks, but no thanks.’ ”

Hotez thinks the vaccine-in-storage can provide cross-protection against the new coronavirus, now officially named COVID-19, whose spread through China and, increasingly, to other countries has the world on edge. The virus, first detected in Wuhan, China, has now infected more than 75,000 people and killed more than 2,200, more than the 774 deaths from SARS. Although the bulk of the cases and deaths have occurred in China, COVID-19 now has been confirmed in 28 countries, the U.S. among them

The 34 cases in the United States — 21 repatriated individuals and 13 travelers who fell ill after returning — include three in Texas, an American citizen who was part of a group evacuated from China on a State Department-chartered flight, and two citizens on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. All three were taken to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

The Baylor-UTMB vaccine looks promising for COVID-19 because the virus so resembles SARS — Hotez calls it SARS-2 — which circulated between November 2002 and July 2003,

[JonPreston]

Yes, the vaccine is in a Houston basement! I’m not even going to read the article!!!

[ealgeone]

We’d have to wait to get an approval code from insurance first!

[samtheman]

No.

[MPJackal]

“Yes, the vaccine is in a Houston basement! I’m not even going to read the article!!!”

UTMB in Galveston has a Level IV Biolab so it ain't in someones basement.

[Grampa Dave]

Yes, the vaccine is in a Houston basement! I’m not even going to read the article!!!

BOL!

It is amazing how many crazy Bat Guano articles appear like this one.

[Black Agnes]

Is it related to the SARS vaccine that nearly killed the recipients when they were actually exposed to SARS later?

Did all the mice in question reproduce the species normally once they were vaccinated?

Questions questions questions...

[flamberge]

No.

COVID-19 has mutated quite some distance from whatever was the original source virus. That mutation continues. It is very unlikely that a SARS vaccine would be effective against COVID-19.

Like the cold and flu viruses, there will be multiple strains emerging in every new season, and for this reason, it is unlikely there will ever be an effective vaccine.

The best chance is with new classes of anti-viral drugs. There appears to have been limited successes with HIV and Ebola anti-virals. These need follow-ups. Lots of experimental trials going on now. These must be expanded.

It is also possible that COVID-19 will mutate into less lethal and less contagious forms over time.

[11th_VA]

Yes - is in a fridge, next to the shelf with the carburetor that gets 120 miles per gallon ...

[Karma_Sherab]

I think it’s behind the Hot Pockets

[null and void]

Rule of thumb, when any headline asks a question, the answer is almost always NO.

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Your loss. The article is very worth reading. Don't be so dismissive just because of what some idiot headline writer wrote. It isn't some wacko independent "inventor" cooking up some alchemy in his basement.

The vaccine, developed by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers, effectively protected mice against SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, the virus from the same family that spread in the early 2000s. The vaccine never progressed to human testing because manufacturing of it wasn’t completed until 2016, long after SARS had burned out.

“It generated zero interest from pharmaceutical companies,” said Peter Hotez, a Baylor vaccine researcher and infectious disease specialist. “Because the virus was no longer circulating, their response was essentially, ‘thanks, but no thanks.’ ”

Hotez thinks the vaccine-in-storage can provide cross-protection against the new coronavirus...The Baylor-UTMB vaccine looks promising for COVID-19 because the virus so resembles SARS — Hotez calls it SARS-2 — which circulated between November 2002 and July 2003

[crusty old prospector]

And the tires that will never wear out.

[353FMG]

...and Obama’s “real” birth cerfificate.

[JonPreston]

The cure isn’t in Houston, KooK.

[sauropod]

.

[CharlesWayneCT]

The advantage of this one is, while it might not be an exact match, it is already through trials and is approved, so it just needs to be manufactured. Although I would expect someone would be running a clinical trial to see how well it does against this new virus.

Still, if you had a 30% chance of this working, and it was tested and found safe.......

[JD_UTDallas]

Most people don’t know that one of our nation’s premier biolevel 4 research labs is on UTMB’s campus on Galveston island. This lab is cleared to work with all the really nasties like smallpox, Ebola, MERS et al. Makes sense to put it on an island if a bug gets out there is only 2 bridges off the island and a ferry. Given that this bug is a SARS class virus of which MERS, SARS and COVID19 are all closely related it actually is solid science that a vaccine for one would work for the others these vaccines usually work by getting the body to create antibodies that bind to the protein receptors on the outside of the virus to prevent replication. Further more viruses in the same class and closely related have very similar if not identical protein receptors. We have a right to try law if this goes full wuhan plague here I’d step up for a human trial subject if it didn’t kill the monkeys first of course. I’m a scientist myself by multiple advanced degrees and profession so I’m not afraid of actual science, antivaxers are raving lunatics in my book.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

An island may provide some safety isolation, but it our have to cut travel over the two bridges and you would potentially get another Diamond Princess situation, wouldn’t you?

Also, can the lab building and storage systems withstand a direct Category 5 hurricane hit? That seems like a high risk site. You sure wouldn’t want hurricane winds scattering those pathogens over Texas.