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Two scientists from Maryland 鈥� including a groundbreaking AIDS researcher 鈥� are pursuing government funding for a study to determine whether the vaccine used against polio could offer temporary protection against COVID-19.
In a paper published this month in the journal聽Science, Drs. Robert C. Gallo and Shyam Kottilil suggest that the oral polio vaccine could provide several weeks of protection against the virus, or at least reduce the morbidity rate for those who get infected.
滨苍听, Gallo and Kottilil suggest the oral polio vaccine, developed in the 1950鈥檚, could provide temporary protection against COVID-19 or at the very least, greatly reduce morbidity.
The vaccine uses a live virus that鈥檚 altered to reduce its risk. The researchers believe that live attenuated virus vaccines like the one developed to fight polio can induce broad protection from pathogens by activating innate immunity mechanisms in the body.
鈥淲e think you could get a significant edge on things. You could have protection for some period of time,鈥� Gallo said during an online Q&A with University of Maryland Baltimore interim President Dr. Bruce E. Jarrell on Monday. 鈥淵ou could give it again. And you could give it again.鈥�
While the polio vaccine may not be the 鈥渟ilver bullet鈥� that protects against COVID-19 permanently, it could buy time while the global scramble to find and test a vaccine advances.
The two men were scheduled to meet with NIH officials on Monday afternoon to discuss their proposal to conduct an ambitious human trial with 11,000 subjects, half of whom would get the vaccine, half a placebo.
Researchers would then track their subjects to see how many got COVID-19, how severe their symptoms were, and whether they developed antibodies.
鈥淎s the epidemic is moving from one place to another, it鈥檚 extremely challenging to design this study,鈥� Kottilil conceded. 鈥淭his study would be centered [at the University of Maryland] Baltimore but there are other sites which would join based on the prevalence of transmission of coronavirus at that time.鈥�
The polio vaccine has several advantages, Gallo and Kottilil said. It鈥檚 been around a long time, is known to be safe, and it鈥檚 easy and inexpensive to produce, around $0.15 per treatment.
The transmission of polio to people who get the vaccine is virtually nonexistent and may be zero, Gallo added.
鈥淭he advance of OPV [oral polio vaccine] is that there鈥檚 an enormous history of millions and millions of people 鈥� actually billions 鈥� that have had this, so you have an enormous track record and safety profile,鈥� said Gallo. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 get better than that.鈥�
The Global Virus Network has already begun to stockpile OPV in anticipation of their research moving forward.
Gallo is Director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Co-Founder & International Scientific Advisor of the Global Virus Network.
Kottilil is a professor of medicine, director of IHV鈥檚 Clinical Care and Research Division, and a member of the Global Virus Network.
