Oral COVID-19 vaccine being tested in Los Angeles-area research center
An oral vaccine being developed by one of the owners of the Los Angeles Lakers could offer protection from COVID-19 without the need for an injection, CBS Los Angeles reports. Researchers at the Chan Soon-Shiong Research Institute in El Segundo are testing whether a series of capsules might work as well as, or even better than, than existing COVID vaccines.
"To have a vaccine that's room temperature that could be a pill is life-changing," Dr. Tara Seery, a trial physician, said.
The oral vaccine is part of an experimental protocol being tested in healthy volunteers. But since scientists still don't know if pills alone can prevent transmission, the researchers are testing four different approaches.
Some participants get a shot and some don't. Some, like Matt Henshaw, get one injection and two rounds of pills.
But the delivery of the vaccine in a capsule isn't the only thing differentiating this vaccine from others.
While existing vaccines help create antibodies to the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus, ImmunityBio's T cell vaccine targets the globe in the middle — a part scientists say is less prone to mutation.
"And the value of doing so is that we generate killer T cells," said ImmunityBio founder and executive chairman Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who's a Lakers owner as well as a vaccine mastermind.
The researchers at ImmunityBio hypothesize that they can create long-term protection against the virus by generating both killer T-cells and antibodies.
Soon-Shiong believes there's reason for optimism for lasting protection, even though the Operation Warp Speed-funded vaccine candidate is still in the experimental stages with safety and efficacy yet to be proven.
"We know from previous SARS-COV-1 in 2003, (that) people (who) got infected then have T-cells that have lasted for 17 years," he said.
As for delivering the vaccine orally, it's not just to avoid a shot. Soon-Shiong believes the combination of the two could be the key.
"By giving a jab, we hope to develop T-cells all around your body," he said. "And by giving orally, we protect the mucus membranes, the gut and hopefully the nose, the mouth, because that's how the virus comes in. It doesn't come in through your blood."
As for Henshaw, now that he's finished his vaccine and boosters, he'll undergo intensive monitoring for the next 12 months and hopes his experience will encourage others to enter a trial.
"The virus is mutating," he said. "So, I hope that we have solutions."
The trial is open to healthy adults under the age of 55 who aren't pregnant and haven't had COVID.
More information about the vaccine trial can be found on ImmunityBio's website.