JERUSALEM: Israel has claimed to develop a vaccine to prevent infected people from the novel coronavirus disease that is threatening to become a global epidemic.
A group of Israeli researchers at the Galilee Research Institute (MIGAL) said they are close to developing a coronavirus vaccine that could be ready in three weeks and available within 90 days, according to Israeli Minister of Science and Technology Ofir Akunis.
The research team has already created a vaccine against avian Coronavirus Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV), and are adapting it to create a human vaccine against Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The research revealed that the genetics of the poultry coronavirus are highly similar to the coronavirus found in humans, and that it uses the same infection mechanism.
“Congratulations to MIGAL on this exciting breakthrough. I am confident that there will be further rapid progress, enabling us to provide a needed response to the grave global COVID-19 threat,” Akunis said.
MIGAL is a research organisation located in the Galilee specialising in the fields of biotechnology, environmental sciences and agriculture.
CEO David Zigdon said they are doing everything to accelerate development given the urgent global need for a human coronavirus vaccine
He said their goal is to produce the vaccine during the next 8-10 weeks and to achieve safety approval in 90 days.
“The vaccine developed by us for poultry is administered orally and the human vaccine offered by us is also expected to be administered orally,” he added. The organisation is working to achieve safety approvals that will enable preclinical testing.
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