Germany approves third human trial of candidate vaccine against “Covid-19”

The biotechnology company IDT Biologika has won the approval of the German Vaccine Regulatory Authority to become the third German company to launch human trials of an experimental coronavirus vaccine in the country.

The vaccine trial, which was developed in cooperation with the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), will be conducted on 30 participants between the ages of 18 and 55, who will receive two vaccines every four weeks.

A larger trial for the second phase, which will include elderly volunteers, is scheduled for the end of this year, if the results of the early phase study show that the vaccine is safe and produces an immune response.

IDT Biologika, an unlisted company headquartered in Dessau Rosslau in eastern Germany, produces viral vaccines for pharmaceutical companies and assists with six projects related to “Covid-19”, including AstraZeneca’s experimental vaccine against the Corona virus.

Its so-called viral vector vaccine is based on a modified, harmless smallpox virus that has already been used to develop a vaccine against the Coronavirus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

Hundreds of potential “Covid-19” vaccines are in various stages of development, with 41 of them in human trials around the world, including Russia and China.

Germany has awarded vaccine makers BioNTech and CureVac 627 million euros ($ 734.78 million) to help speed up work on the “Covid-19” vaccine and increase German production capacity. It is currently in talks with IDT Biologika about providing funding for it as well.