0:00
Interviewer: Professor Kobinger,
thank you very much for
taking the time today to record this
interview about where we currently stand
in the development of a vaccine for
the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Could you firstly give us an overview
of where we currently stand on vaccine
development?
Prof. Kobinger: Yes, the overview on
vaccine development is not that easy in
the sense that I'm one person, I don't
know everything in the field in real time.
That being said, I know a fair amount and
I will share this with you.
We're seeing a lot of
different possibilities,
we use the words 'vaccine platforms'
which means different vaccines or
vaccine strategies, it could be the same
vaccine but for example, with or
without adjuvants or different regimens
(say one, two or three doses).
What's happening right now in terms of a
high-level overview: there is one vaccine
based on RNA that entered clinical trials
last week or two weeks ago in the US,
there is another vaccine based on DNA
set to enter clinical trials this month,
which is pending approval
from the FDA (the Food and
Drug Administration),
so it's their decision.
They could say 'not this Monday but
the following one',
from what I'm hearing it should
start before the end of April.
There is a lot of effort,
notably in Europe from CEPI,
that is funding many different
vaccines and vaccine strategies.
The DNA vaccine that I just
talked about is one of them, but
there are more: Johnson & Johnson
also has a vaccine that is advancing,
they said publicly yesterday (or
the day before) that they were going
