image credit- University of Melbourne
Victorian scientists and manufacturers have created Australia’s first mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate – Australia’s first ever mRNA drug product – in just five months, enabling clinical trials to begin in the new year.
450 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate have been produced in Boronia, enabling 124 people to take part in Phase 1 clinical trials run by the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) – a joint venture partnership between the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Funded by the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund, results from the trial are expected in late 2022.
The Victorian Government invested $5 million to enable manufacture of the vaccine candidate, with dedicated equipment shipped to manufacturer IDT Australia from Canada. The machine processed nanoparticles into final liquid drug form, sterilised the product and filled vials with mRNA vaccine.
Image caption- Left-right: Doherty Institute Laboratory Head Professor Damian Purcell; Doherty Institute Head of Vaccine and Immunisation Research Group Professor Terry Nolan; Minister Jaala Pulford; Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences Professor of Pharmaceutical BiologyProfessor Colin Pouton; IDT CEO Dr David Sparling and Sheena Watt MP. Image: supplied to University of Melbourne
