Course – two glasses
A coronavirus vaccine in the form of a fermented milk drink has been developed
Tatiana Tyumeneva, Russian Newspaper
What should the vaccine look like? "This is an ampoule or a bottle of liquid," you will answer. St. Petersburg scientists from the Institute of Experimental Medicine have a different opinion.
The coronavirus vaccine they created is a fermented milk product (fermented baked milk or yogurt) and looks no different from similar ones packaged in bottles and sold in stores. You need to drink this vaccine, and it really tastes like ryazhenka. The stage of preclinical testing (on animals) is now coming to an end.
How does the ryazhenka vaccine work? Everyone knows about the benefits of probiotic bacteria. In order for ryazhenka to turn into a vaccine, a small section of the viral genome is "embedded" in the genome of a bacterium useful for our body. And then the virus protein begins to be produced on its surface. It is he who is recognized by the immune system as foreign and the body begins to produce antibodies against him. Moreover, as Alexander Suvorov, the chief developer of the vaccine, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the Department of Molecular Microbiology of the IEM, clarified, a section of the real virus is not used to create a vaccine, only a synthesized piece of the genome. And this is quite enough to achieve a good immune response.
"Our vaccine, having not yet entered human cells (as it happens with traditional vaccines), begins to interact with the mucous membranes of the mouth, intestines. There are a huge number of cells that are responsible for the recognition of antigens. And our bacterium just contains a viral antigen. There is an immune response to the antigen, that is, to the invasion of the enemy," explains Suvorov.
The new vaccine does not need special storage conditions, and it is easy to scale it: it is enough to have conditions for fermenting lactic acid bacteria, that is, a temperature of about 37 degrees. Within a day, you can get a large amount of the ryazhenka vaccine.
The technology proposed by IEM has an important additional advantage. It can be transferred to any other pathogen. That is, if a genetically structured probiotic bacterium proves its effectiveness against the coronavirus, it can be easily adapted to a completely different variant, replacing a "piece of the viral genome" in the event of the appearance of another pathogen.
Preclinical trials began with laboratory mice. Their state of health has not deteriorated at all, antibodies against the coronavirus have begun to develop well. Now they are tested on hamsters – but with infection with a real virus after vaccination. Hamsters were taken because mice do not get sick with coronavirus. The tests (they take place in another organization that has the right to work with the live COVID-19 virus) were completed by the end of 2021. In February of this year, the data obtained should be systematized, on the basis of which the developers plan to transfer a package of documents on the vaccine to the Ministry of Health of Russia. If the application is approved, it will be possible to proceed to clinical trials (on volunteers).
The developers find it difficult to say when the vaccine may appear on the market. They call the end of 2022, if, of course, the vaccine receives the approval of the Ministry of Health. It may be faster if there is permission for accelerated implementation. Financing is an extremely important issue. However, it is possible that the development will receive the status of a program of the Union State.
"RG" found out how it is supposed to drink the vaccine. Two glasses of it are needed for the course. The first glass is divided into three parts, each of which is drunk every other day. Then a three-week break, after which the second glass is drunk according to exactly the same scheme.
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