Swiss researchers launch COVID-19 ‘patch’ vaccine trial

Swiss researchers said they have launched an early-stage study to test a new-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate to be administered via a patch on the arm, the latest to study alternative methods to injections.

Unlike conventional vaccines that stimulate the production of antibodies, the new PepGNP-COVID19 vaccine candidate focuses on T cells, responsible for cellular immunity, to eliminate cells infected by the virus and prevent its replication.

The British company Emergex Vaccines Holding Ltd has developed the possible vaccine, while the Unisanté medical research center in Lausanne, in collaboration with the city’s CHUV hospital, will carry out the trial, which began on January 10.

Professor Blaise Genton, director of the study, stated that this cellular immunity generates so-called “memory cells”, which could make the vaccine longer-lasting and better than others at protecting against possible variants of the coronavirus.

The potential vaccine will be delivered via microneedles in the patch less than a millimeter deep that they hope will provide long-term immunity against COVID-19 and eliminate the need for seasonal booster shots.

“With this new vaccine that generates this cellular immunity, we hope to have a longer period of protection. We don’t know yet, but it could be a year, two years, three years,” Genton said.

To administer the vaccine, the patch is briefly pressed against the skin and then removed.

The study is the first in the world with the new candidate and follows the start last year of another study in Lausanne to assess the safety of a new generation dengue vaccine using the same technology.

Emergex Vaccines Holding Ltd announced in November that it would start the COVID-19 vaccine trial. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.