As Corona Virus continues to infect and take lives across the world, the efforts to develop a vaccine have also gained pace. Italy has been one of the worst affected countries with almost 30k deaths. And now, a team of researchers in Italy have claimed that they have successfully developed a vaccine that can help contain the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
According to the researchers at Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome, their vaccine could be among the most visible progress amongst hundreds of experimental vaccines being tested across the world. Tests conducted on mice showed that the vaccine has antibodies that work on human cells, blocking the virus from infecting people. The team of researchers further observed that the five vaccine candidates generated a large number of antibodies, and selected two with the best results.
Luigi Aurisicchio, CEO of Takis, the firm developing the medication, said that a coronavirus candidate vaccine has neutralized the virus in human cells for the first time, the Arab News reported. “As far as we know we are the first in the world so far to have demonstrated neutralization of the coronavirus by a vaccine. We expect this to happen in humans too,” Aurisicchio added.
The vaccine is being touted as the most advanced stage of testing of a candidate vaccine created in Italy. Human tests are expected after this summer.
