On Friday (25), the first doses of a potential vaccine against covid-19 will begin to be applied in Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais. Officially known as SpiN-Tec MCTI UFMG, the immunizer that uses 100% national technology should be applied to approximately 70 people in the first phase of the clinical study.
The national vaccine against covid-19 is developed by researchers at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and has the support of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI). If clinical trials go as expected, the immunizer should be adopted as a booster dose against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus throughout Brazil.
How will the tests of the national covid-19 vaccine be in Minas?
For Phase 1 of the clinical study, UFMG researchers must recruit up to 72 volunteers, aged between 18 and 85 years. Participants must be in good health and have no history of coronavirus infections. Pregnant or breastfeeding women cannot participate.
In addition, individuals chosen for the research must have completed the primary schedule (2 doses) with the CoronaVac vaccine and have received the first booster dose (third dose) of Pfizer at least nine months ago. In total, this stage of the study should last 12 months.
It is worth remembering that, in Brazil, another national vaccine is also undergoing clinical trials: ButanVac, developed by the Butantan Institute. In the case of this formula, Phase 1 has already been completed, but the results have not yet been published in a scientific journal.
What is the technology used by the immunizing potential against covid-19?
Unlike other vaccines already used in the covid-19 pandemic, the SpiN-Tec MCTI UFMG vaccine focuses on sensitizing the immune system against two parts of the coronavirus:
THE protein spike (S) the viral membrane — this is the focus of most formulas available on the market;
THE nucleocapsid protein (N) found inside the covid-19 virus.
According to the researchers responsible for the national vaccine, the presence of the nucleocapsid is one of the great advantages of the potential formula. This is because it is a structure that has remained, so far, practically unchanged in relation to the variant strains of the coronavirus. Incidentally, it is the combination of the two structures that forms the name of the current immunizer SpiN (Spi + N).
In the compound, the two structures undergo a fusion process, resulting in an artificial protein. Scientifically, it is a chimera. In addition, the formula carries an adjuvant, whose function is to stimulate the immune system to recognize the coronavirus more quickly and effectively.
Source: MCTI and UFMG