MUSC picked to participate in COVID-19 vaccine trial
The Medical University of South Carolina will participate in a coronavirus vaccine trial, according to a statement from the university.
As many as 1,500 people around the Charleston-area will be participating in the phase 3 trial — the part of a vaccine trial that focuses on how well a vaccine works in a population. So far, the vaccine that will be tested, one that is manufactured by AstraZeneca, “has shown promise in battling COVID-19,” the statement read.
“The science behind it looks good,” MUSC emergency medicine physician Gary Headden, who will be leading the trial, said in a statement. “So, I’d say I’m optimistic.”
Researchers hope to gather data from the trial from 20 U.S. cities, including Charleston. In all, they hope to have 30,000 adult participants.
If the trial is ultimately successful, the manufacturer of the vaccine can apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval.
MUSC will launch a webpage next week where residents in the area can apply to participate in the trial. Those interested can visit research.musc.edu/clinical-trials/coronavirus-clinical-trials.
As part of the trial, for every two participants who will get the active vaccine, one will get a placebo. Researchers will monitor those subjects for two years.
“This is a big study with an aggressive time frame, which is expected of a trial of this importance,” Headden said in the statement. “As for the science behind it, it’s totally solid. Put it this way: I would let my family take this vaccine.”
According to MUSC, hundreds of people have already “expressed interest in participation.”
“This is a really important research opportunity,”MUSC clinical research manager Ashley Warden said in a statement. “We need to have a therapy that can bring this pandemic into control. It would be best that those that participate in this trial are representative of our region.”
AstraZeneca’s vaccine will be the third entering phase three trials in the United States. Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTec are already conducting trials.
According to a report in the New York Times, AstraZeneca has said they may be able to dole out emergency vaccines as early as October.
President Donald Trump has pushed for companies to have a vaccine approved by the end of the year.
