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Clinical Trial Gets Underway In Duarte For New COVID-19 Vaccine

DUARTE (CBSLA) – A clinical trial began Friday at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte for a new coronavirus vaccine.

"I'm excited, not nervous at all," Lupe Duarte, a trial participant, said. "I know I'm in safe hands."

The 48-year-old was the first volunteer to receive City of Hope's investigational COVID-19 vaccine, which is now being tested in a Phase 1 clinical trial.

The vaccine, known as COH04S1, is being developed in City of Hope's Duarte headquarters at the Center for Biomedicine and Genetics.

And like the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, this vaccine uses a two-dose method. But, unlike the others, both of which use messenger RNA, the City of Hope effort uses a similar platform as the smallpox vaccine and researchers said it was less likely to trigger an allergic reaction.

"We used a fully synthetic platform, popped in the genes for SARS-CoV-2, and from there made this virus-based vaccine," Dr. Don Diamond, a hematology professor at City of Hope, said. "Our platform can be easily modified."

The vaccine aims to "stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies which can block the virus from entering cells, and also spur abundant T cells that are thought to provide the elusive long-term protection that could protect against future outbreaks," the medical center said in a news release last month.

"So you sort of have a two-prong attack," Diamond said. "You have the T-cells killing the infected cells, but then we have antibodies, and antibodies are best to attach to the free virus and flush them out."

Diamond said the strong T-cell response could provide long-term protection that might protect vaccine recipients against future COVID-19 outbreaks.

"My hope is that this vaccine will prevent me from getting COVID," Duarte said.

The Phase 1 trial involves at least 119 participants and is expected to last four months. If successful, Phase 2 of the trial could get underway by the spring, followed then by Phase 3.

Those interested in finding out more about the trial can email CovidVaccine@coh.org.

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