SKYCovione, will the South Korean vaccine be useful?
Although Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna are finalizing the updated version of their vaccines to counter Omicron, South Korea is now launching its SKYCovione protein vaccine. All the details
South Korea also now has its own anti-Covid vaccine made in Seoul, it is called SKYCovione and is produced by SK Bioscience. It is a protein vaccine, therefore not made with the latest mRNA technologies.
The country's ministry of food safety and drugsalso said yesterday that the two-dose vaccine for people aged 18 and over performed better than AstraZeneca's vaccine in clinical trials.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT
"The international approval [of SKYCovione, ed ] confirms the ability of our companies to develop Covid vaccines," said Minister of Food Safety and Drugs Oh Yu-kyoung, who added that SK Bioscience is seeking approval from the World Health Organization (WHO), which could open up export opportunities.
The development of SKYCovione, reads the SK Bioscience press release , was supported by funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
THE TRIAL
Results from the Phase III clinical trial, conducted in 4,037 adults over 18 years of age, demonstrated that SKYCovione induced neutralizing antibody responses against the parental SARS-CoV-2 strain.
Titers of neutralizing antibodies, reports SK Bioscience, increased approximately 33 times compared to before injection and were 3 times higher than those of Vaxzevria from AstraZeneca two weeks after the second dose.
In participants over the age of 65, neutralizing antibody titers were 2.7 times higher than those obtained after vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine and the antibody conversion rate was also higher (95.3% vs 79.2% ).
Most adverse reactions that occurred after injection were mild or moderate and transient.
DOUBT
However effective the newcomer may be, however, it presents a not insignificant problem.
SKYCovione, in fact, was designed on the original (wild-type) strain of the virus and therefore seems to be out of step with the times since both Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna have already been racing against time for months to create an updated one capable of fighting the newer variant Omicron and its sub-variants, such as BA4 and BA5, extremely transmissible and responsible for the recent increase in cases.
Among other things, it should also not be forgotten that new variants could emerge in the coming months and this would once again shuffle the cards.
As in the case of Nuvaxovid, Novavax's vaccine, officials say protein vaccines such as SKYCovione, similar to those used for years against the common flu and hepatitis B, may be of interest to people who hesitate to use vaccines developed with more technology. recent ones, such as mRNA ones.
The pharmaceutical company has announced that it is planning heterologous and homologous booster clinical trials with its vaccine also for adolescents and children in order to expand the vaccination age range, but a study is also planned to confirm the preventive effect of SKYCovione against variants, including Omicron.
FORECASTS
South Korea eased most restrictions after battling a wave of Omicron earlier this year, but some experts say the country, despite the high vaccination rate, could see a new increase in infections due to the decline in immune defenses and the possible appearance of new variants.
Yesterday the country reported 10,463 new cases, the first daily increase above 10,000 in 20 days, but for now the health ministry has made no further announcements.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/skycovione-sara-utile-il-vaccino-della-corea-del-sud/ on Thu, 30 Jun 2022 12:43:16 +0000.