Rising chorus of concern over Sputnik V vaccine stems from opaque development and lack of mass-testing.
In 1977 Scott Halstead, a virologist at the University of Hawaii, was studying dengue fever when he noticed a now well-known but then unexpected feature of the disease.
Animals that had already been exposed to one of the four closely-related viruses that cause dengue and produced antibodies to it, far from being protected against other versions became sicker when infected a second time, and it was the antibodies already produced by the first infection that were responsible, allowing the second infection to hitchhike into the body.
The effect was called antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). The reason it matters today, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, is because unexpected glitches like ADE are the kind of problems vaccine developers look for in phase 3 testing of vaccines – testing which has yet to be carried out on Russia’s newly-approved Sputnik V vaccine.
ADE “is a genuine concern”, virologist Kevin Gilligan, a senior consultant with Biologics Consulting, told Nature Biotechnology in June. “Because if the gun is jumped, and a vaccine is widely distributed that is disease enhancing, that would be worse than actually not doing any vaccination at all.”
This week, following Russia’s announcement that it is pushing ahead with mass production of Sputnik V and mass inoculation , the fears expressed by the likes of Gilligan became a chorus, underlining the genuine concerns among scientists that Russian researchers had jumped the gun.
Even as Russia insisted that claims that the vaccine was unsafe were groundless, criticism continued to build.
Among those mentioning ADE as a concern was Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College.
Part of the problem, Altmann points out, is that the work behind Russia’s vaccine development has been so opaque that no one really knows how safe or even how effective it will be.
“I don’t think the Russian researchers have done anything wrong,” he told the Guardian, “but I think they’ve jumped the gun,” he added reflecting Gilligan’s language.
“If we are talking about safety then you have to be looking at issues like ADE, which was a concern that scuppered some efforts to develop a Sars vaccine, where it exacerbated an asthma-like response in lungs.”
It is not just the potential for issues such as ADE that concerns people like Altmann, who is optimistic that the hunt for a vaccine for Covid-19 is not “intractable”.
He says the ideal approach would have been to compare 150 or so different vaccine candidates transparently, using the same testing criteria, to ensure the world gets the best vaccine, not simply the first.
“No two of these candidates is going be alike in terms of safety, how effective they are or how cheap they are to produce,” he said.
“The reason we’re crying out for transparency and peer review is because those factors are very serious. There have been too many debacles in this pandemic. This is not another occasion to blunder in. You want to line up the candidates side by side.”
The lack of effective testing throws up other issues….
Image Credit: Amanda Scott/ Alias
News This Week
Advancements and clinical translation of intelligent nanodrugs for breast cancer treatment
A comprehensive review in "Biofunct. Mater." meticulously details the most recent advancements and clinical translation of intelligent nanodrugs for breast cancer treatment. This paper presents an exhaustive overview of subtype-specific nanostrategies, the clinical benefits [...]
It’s Not “All in Your Head”: Scientists Develop Revolutionary Blood Test for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
A 96% accurate blood test for ME/CFS could transform diagnosis and pave the way for future long COVID detection. Researchers from the University of East Anglia and Oxford Biodynamics have created a highly accurate [...]
How Far Can the Body Go? Scientists Find the Ultimate Limit of Human Endurance
Even the most elite endurance athletes can’t outrun biology. A new study finds that humans hit a metabolic ceiling at about 2.5 times their resting energy burn. When ultra-runners take on races that last [...]
World’s Rivers “Overdosing” on Human Antibiotics, Study Finds
Researchers estimate that approximately 8,500 tons of antibiotics enter river systems each year after passing through the human body and wastewater treatment processes. Rivers spanning millions of kilometers across the globe are contaminated with [...]
Yale Scientists Solve a Century-Old Brain Wave Mystery
Yale scientists traced gamma brain waves to thalamus-cortex interactions. The discovery could reveal how brain rhythms shape perception and disease. For more than a century, scientists have observed rhythmic waves of synchronized neuronal activity [...]
Can introducing peanuts early prevent allergies? Real-world data confirms it helps
New evidence from a large U.S. primary care network shows that early peanut introduction, endorsed in 2015 and 2017 guidelines, was followed by a marked decline in clinician-diagnosed peanut and overall food allergies among [...]
Nanoparticle blueprints reveal path to smarter medicines
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are the delivery vehicles of modern medicine, carrying cancer drugs, gene therapies and vaccines into cells. Until recently, many scientists assumed that all LNPs followed more or less the same blueprint, [...]
How nanomedicine and AI are teaming up to tackle neurodegenerative diseases
When I first realized the scale of the challenge posed by neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), I felt simultaneously humbled and motivated. These disorders are not caused [...]
Self-Organizing Light Could Transform Computing and Communications
USC engineers have demonstrated a new kind of optical device that lets light organize its own route using the principles of thermodynamics. Instead of relying on switches or digital control, the light finds its own [...]
Groundbreaking New Way of Measuring Blood Pressure Could Save Thousands of Lives
A new method that improves the accuracy of interpreting blood pressure measurements taken at the ankle could be vital for individuals who are unable to have their blood pressure measured on the arm. A newly developed [...]
Scientist tackles key roadblock for AI in drug discovery
The drug development pipeline is a costly and lengthy process. Identifying high-quality "hit" compounds—those with high potency, selectivity, and favorable metabolic properties—at the earliest stages is important for reducing cost and accelerating the path [...]
Nanoplastics with environmental coatings can sneak past the skin’s defenses
Plastic is ubiquitous in the modern world, and it's notorious for taking a long time to completely break down in the environment - if it ever does. But even without breaking down completely, plastic [...]
Chernobyl scientists discover black fungus feeding on deadly radiation
It looks pretty sinister, but it might actually be incredibly helpful When reactor number four in Chernobyl exploded, it triggered the worst nuclear disaster in history, one which the surrounding area still has not [...]
Long COVID Is Taking A Silent Toll On Mental Health, Here’s What Experts Say
Months after recovering from COVID-19, many people continue to feel unwell. They speak of exhaustion that doesn’t fade, difficulty breathing, or an unsettling mental haze. What’s becoming increasingly clear is that recovery from the [...]
Study Delivers Cancer Drugs Directly to the Tumor Nucleus
A new peptide-based nanotube treatment sneaks chemo into drug-resistant cancer cells, providing a unique workaround to one of oncology’s toughest hurdles. CiQUS researchers have developed a novel molecular strategy that allows a chemotherapy drug to [...]
Scientists Begin $14.2 Million Project To Decode the Body’s “Hidden Sixth Sense”
An NIH-supported initiative seeks to unravel how the nervous system tracks and regulates the body’s internal organs. How does your brain recognize when it’s time to take a breath, when your blood pressure has [...]
