MUST Covid-19 vaccine under development with mainland partners

The Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) is progressing with its Covid-19 vaccine development and is actively collaborating with mainland centers to further its research. The school is undertaking its phase one study of the vaccine at present, according to MUST professor Brian Tomlinson.
Yesterday, during a France Macau Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting, Tomlinson spoke about MUST’s collaboration with mainland institutions in developing a Covid-19 vaccine.
In August, MUST announced a major breakthrough in the development of a viable Covid-19 vaccine. On the sidelines of yesterday’s event, the MUST professor told Macau Daily Times that the research is now in phase one, with researchers evaluating and validating the vaccine in human clinical trials.
“The vaccine that MUST is involved with is now going through phase one of the study,” said Tomlinson, explaining that the researchers are giving the vaccine to healthy people and are measuring the participants’ immune and antibody responses.
The researchers found that a recombinant vaccine comprising of a receptor-binding domain (RBD) induced a potent and functional antibody response in the immunized mice, rabbits and non-human primates (Macaca mulatta) as early as seven to 14 days after a single-dose injection.
“We have to wait for that study to see how well it works in people. You can’t always predict from the studies in the different animal models how it will work in people,” said Tomlinson.
The professor explained that the normal process for human trials is to test it in a large group. Scientists will give the vaccine to “a lot of people, thousands of people” to measure the antibody response and to make sure that there are no adverse reactions.
In terms of other studies that are proceeding with phase three, they are taking “quite a few months,” according to Tomlinson.
“It’s been predicted that, in the U.S., they will have a vaccine by November, but I think that’s a bit optimistic,” the professor commented. He believes that “it would be pushing it a bit” to produce a final product this year.
The MUST study has evaluated the potential of its candidate vaccine based on the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2.
The school’s finding highlights the importance of the RBD domain in the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine design, which provides the rationale for the development of a protective vaccine through the induction of an antibody response against the RBD domain.