51³Ô¹ÏÍø

A microbiology lab at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s St Mary’s campus is at the centre of a scientific race to develop a vaccine against a global viral outbreak.

This article was updated on 5 February 2020

Led by Professor Robin Shattock, from the Department of Infectious Disease, the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø team is one of only a handful of research groups in the world currently working to create a viable vaccine against the novel coronavirus.

Since emerging at the end of last year, the virus (called ‘2019-nCoV’) has spread beyond the limits of Wuhan city in China’s Hubei province, causing hundreds of deaths in China and leading to confirmed cases in 24 countries around the world – including two in the UK.

According to Professor Shattock, the difference between this vaccine effort and that of previous outbreaks, such as the SARS outbreak in 2002, is that a vaccine could potentially be produced much faster than conventional methods.

“We have the technology to develop a vaccine with a speed that’s never been realised before,” he explains.

Professor Shattock added: “We have successfully generated our novel coronavirus vaccine candidate in the lab – just 14 days from getting the genetic sequence to generating the candidate in the lab. This will go into the first animal experiments on Monday [10th February].

"If this work is successful, and if we secure further funding, the vaccine could enter into clinical studies (with human participants) in early Summer.”

51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Ryan O’Hare spoke to Professor Shattock to find out more about the virus at the centre of the outbreak and the road to developing a vaccine.

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