University of Queensland rocked after vaccine plans canned

University of Queensland researchers are having to “pick themselves up” after their much-lauded Covid 19 vaccine was shelved.

It’s the darkest of days at the University of Queensland lab where scientists have lived and breathed the creation of a lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine.

Following the announcement today that the homegrown vaccine will not be developed after human trials returned false-positive HIV test results, head of the team Professor Paul Young told a press conference his team was “devastated”.

“The last 24hours have been challenging but that’s science we will pick ourselves up and keep going” Prof Young said.

While the next phase of the trials will not go ahead the scientists will continue to monitor the participants from the Phase 1 trials and record the data.

UQ Professor Paul Young. Picture: Liam Kidston.

The UQ team will continue their work and will look at either modifying their existing clamp technology or selecting different proteins rather than the HIV protein used in the candidate vaccine.

Phase 1 trial data showed that some participants showed antibodies after vaccination which interfered with certain HIV diagnostic assays. The molecular clamp antibodies caused a false positive on a range of HIV assays.

Dr Russell Basser from Seqirus a CSL company told the press conference that public confidence was a big driver in the decision to shelve development of the UQ vaccine.

“We have come to a mutual agreement with the Government . Public confidence is critical and if there were no other vaccines in the works we may have persisted,” he said

Even though the vaccine was safe “the burden to move forward was too great.”

CSL will now create 20 million more doses of the Oxford vaccine .

In an earlier statement on Friday, Prof Young said that although it was possible to re-engineer the vaccine, the team did not have the luxury of time needed.

“Doing so would set back development by another 12 or so months, and while this is a tough decision to take, the urgent need for a vaccine has to be everyone’s priority,” he said.

“I said at the start of vaccine development that there were no guarantees, but what is really encouraging is that the core technology approach we used has passed the major clinical test. It is a safe and well-tolerated vaccine, producing the strong virus-neutralising effect that we were hoping to see.

“So we will continue to push forward and we are confident that with further work the Molecular Clamp technology will be a robust platform for future vaccine development here in Australia.”

Researchers working on UQ’s now-cancelled vaccine.

UQ Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deborah Terry, said while the outcome was disappointing, she was immensely proud of the UQ team who had shouldered a heavy burden of responsibility while the world watched on.

“I also want to thank our many partners, our donors – including the Federal and Queensland Government – and of course the 216 Queenslanders who so willingly volunteered for the Phase 1 trials,” she said.