University of Hawaii researcher and team pursue potential coronavirus vaccine

University of Hawaii researcher Axel Lehrer is working with New Jersey-based biopharmaceutical company Soligenix, Inc., to develop a vaccine against COVID-19, the team announced Monday.

Lehrer, an assistant professor at the UH Medical School, and his partners at Soligenix previously helped develop a vaccine to combat the Ebola virus that was heat stable and could be produced in mass quantities.

The researchers are now applying the same “technology platform” they used for Ebola to tackle coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, according to announcements from Soligenix and the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

“Our work to date has demonstrated not only the feasibility of rapid and efficient manufacturing, but also the potential for a broadly applicable and easily distributed vaccine. We are delighted with our successes on development of filovirus and flavivirus vaccines using our platform and look forward to accelerated studies with the coronaviruses.”

The team plans to start test trials in small animals in the next few weeks. If their efforts pan out, the vaccine could be ready for human trials in six to nine months, according to a news release from the medical school.

Read the full story from University of Hawaii here.