Israeli Researchers Claim Breakthrough In Developing Vaccine Against Coronavirus

KIRYAT SHMONA (VINnews) — Israeli researchers claim to have made a major breakthrough in the search for a vaccine against coronavirus and they maintain that the vaccine could be ready for use on humans within three months.

Researchers at the Galilee Scientific Research Institute (MIGAL) based in Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel said Thursday in a press release that for the past four years they have been researching Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV), a disease affecting poultry and have developed an effective vaccine against the virus which has already been proved in pre-clinical trials at the Volcani institute.  MIGAL added that due to the virus’s similar DNA structure in humans and poultry, they can make the required genetic adjustments to adapt the vaccine to COVID-19, the human strain of coronavirus, and they are working to achieve the safety approvals that will enable human testing. This will enable the production of a vaccine to counter the Coronavirus epidemic currently spreading throughout the world, which so far has claimed over 2000 lives.

Commenting on the news, David Zigdon, the CEO of MIGAL  said that, “Given the urgent global need for a human coronavirus vaccine, we are doing everything we can to accelerate development. Our goal is to produce the vaccine during the next 8-10 weeks, and to achieve safety approval in 90 days. This will be an oral vaccine, making it particularly accessible to the general public. We are currently in intensive discussions with potential partners that can help accelerate the in-human trials phase and expedite the completion final product development and regulatory activities.”

“Under these conditions, where the disease causes enormous damages as it worsens, I believe the regulations will be eased,” Migal founder Professor David Levanon added.

He said that in normal conditions it might have been several more years before the vaccine would have become available for use in humans.

MIGAL is a regional R&D center of the Israeli Science and Technology Ministry owned by the Galilee Development Company Ltd which specializes in biotechnology and computer sciences, plant science, precision agriculture and environmental sciences, and food, nutrition and health. MIGAL’s employees include 90 PhDs and 190 researchers distributed across 44 research groups, each managed by a senior principal investigator.

Israeli Science And Technology Minister congratulated MIGAL on its achievement, adding that “I am confident that there will be further rapid progress, enabling us to provide a needed response to the grave global COVID-19 threat.”