hough researchers in Nigeria have developed a DNA-based vaccine against COVID-19 specifically for Africa, they are struggling to find funding to take it to human trials.
The vaccine was developed using DIOSynVax technology and targets strains of the novel coronavirus circulating on the African continent.
Animal trials showed a high-level of protection (90 percent) in the pre-clinical evaluation, according to Christian Happi, a Harvard-trained geneticist and director of the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) at Redeemer’s University in Ede in southwestern Nigeria, the first lab in Africa to sequence the coronavirus genome.
“That gave us the impetus and enthusiasm to start preparing for phase 1 clinical trials in humans, but we are stuck because we do not have funding and resources,” Happi said.
It’s crucial to develop a vaccine intended for Africa, Happi said. Vaccines previously developed in the Global North, such as those for malaria, have fallen short because they were created without fully considering Africans’ genetic diversity and the pathogens circulating on the continent.
Happi said there are currently 10 different lineages of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in Nigeria alone, and these will keep changing and evolve into new strains. Global vaccine developers are working on lineages A and B, but a lineage C has already been found in South Africa, which means that vaccines developed for A and B might not be effective on C. That’s why it’s essential to understand the situation on the ground before beginning to design a vaccine, Happi said, and consider the lineages, as well as the immune responses of those who will be administered the vaccine.
“We understand that genetically Africans are different from people in the Global North,” he explained. “As such, if you want to design a vaccine for Africans primarily you need to start from Africa and understand how they are responding. And that’s one of the reasons why vaccines developed in the West fall short.”