A variant-proof vaccine? Two California firms launch trials of COVID shot they hope will protect against the South African form - and future mutants - by targeting a more stable part of the infectious spike protein
Two biotechnology companies based in California, ImmunityBio and NantKwest, are beginning Phase I clinical trials of their vaccine in South Africa
Their candidate, hAd5 T-cell, targets two parts of the virus: the spike protein, more prone to mutations and the nucleocapsid protein, which is less prone
Researchers hope this will help protect against variants of the coronavirus like those that arose in the UK, South Africa and Brazil