“Vaccine Development Has Never Been So Fast”

Prof. Dr. Marylyn Addo is one of the most important experts in the corona crisis. In an interview with t-online.de, she estimates when a vaccine can be expected.

In 2014, Prof. Dr. Marylyn Addo participated in the development of a vaccine against the Ebola virus. Now the scientist is also working on a vaccine against the new corona virus. At the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), her team also examines and treats people with corona.

Prior to SARS-CoV-2, the medical group mainly examined viral infections such as Ebola or the MERS coronavirus. Addo was born in Bonn in 1970 and studied in Bonn, Strasbourg and Lausanne. She received her doctorate from the University of Bonn, received a Masters Degree in London and moved to Boston for infectious specialist training. She has headed the Infectiology Department at UKE since 2015. In an interview with t-online.de, she explains why both vaccine and medication against Covid-19 are needed and how likely she thinks another wave of coronavirus is.

t-online.de: You have already been involved in the development of an Ebola vaccine, how would you rate the current status of the development of a vaccine against the coronavirus?

Prof. Dr. Marylyn Addo: Both vaccine developments – Ebola back then and SARS-CoV-2 now – must and had to go at an enormous pace. I would say that with every outbreak, vaccine development has accelerated. This is partly because we learned from other outbreaks, but also because the technologies are even faster and more innovative. It has never been the case that a virus was discovered in January and the first human in a clinical trial was vaccinated in March. Vaccine development has never been so fast. Of course, that still feels too slow for everyone. But there are currently over 140 vaccine strategies, many of which are already in clinical trials. The first results of a study with 100 people from China with a viral vector vaccine were already given. So that is going very quickly. I also believe that we will see the first protection data soon – in the second half of the year. The current studies are primarily concerned with the safety of vaccines. In the next phase we will test whether someone who receives the vaccine, tolerates it well, forms sufficient antibodies and is also protected from infection. If this continues at this pace, we may have first results here in the second half of the year. So: it is going well.

What do you think will be the sooner available vaccine or medication for Covid-19?

The drugs are also in clinical trials and the drug remdesivir has at least shown some effectiveness. It is a by-product, it was originally developed for the treatment of Ebola. It will probably take a while for a drug made specifically for Covid-19 to exist. But with Remdesivir we already have a drug that we can use in certain Covid 19 patients. And clinical trials are ongoing – so I think that the pace is high here too and that we may soon have new active ingredients available.

The development of vaccines is also very quick. However, this also depends on how the pandemic develops: If there are no more corona cases, it will also be difficult to provide evidence. Unfortunately, there are still enough cases in the world at the moment – so it may well be that we will soon receive signals.

I think we actually have the situation right now that we have a medication and not yet a vaccine. And we’ll need both – Remdesivir won’t be the only answer, better medicines will have to be developed. Even if there is a vaccine. Because until it reaches all people, there will still be infections that we have to treat.

How promising do you think the concept of passive immunization is?

Passive immunization transfers the immunity of a recovered person to a sick person. In the individual healing attempt of Covid-19 sufferers, blood plasma from recovered Corona sufferers can already be administered or, in the future, possibly antibodies that are isolated from healthy people. Both were tested at Ebola, for example, and the so-called convalescent plasma did not work so well here. In contrast, the therapeutic use of monoclonal antibodies has become the standard therapy for Ebola. The message has to be: This is a very interesting concept, but we have to check in studies whether it works.

What do you think of the easing that is currently being carried out in Germany and many other European countries – do you expect a second wave of infection?

In this situation and in biomedicine in general it is never possible to make one hundred percent predictions. All in all, I would say that the course so far and the falling numbers have been the result of society in Germany having gone through the so-called “lockdown” so well and adhering to the measures. In this respect, in my opinion, it is also justified to allow easing now. In addition, summer begins and people exercise a lot outdoors. It is important to observe how “superspreading events” behave. So if 50 or 100 cases occur, for example, in the context of a service, a celebration or in an old people’s home. Then you have to act quickly. That will surely still accompany us. Nobody can predict whether we will get another big wave in autumn. I would think many would say, “It doesn’t have to be.” But these predictions are always difficult because nobody can actually know.

On the current occasion: Do you understand the attacks on Prof. Christian Drosten and the criticism of his study, which now also comes from colleagues like Prof. Alexander Kekulé from Halle?

I find this situation disturbing and very bad. This is a discourse that, in my opinion, must not be conducted in the media. I find both the form and the style objectionable. I also dissociate myself very much from the fact that people like Mr. Drosten or Mr. Lauterbach receive death threats, for example, as a society we have to prevent that. I find that particularly important in this context.

Keyword aerosol: how risky is the spreading of the virus via the air – can mouth-nose protection curb its spread at all?

Aerosols are these tiny particles that can also contribute to the transmission of the virus. Our measures so far have primarily focused on droplet infection. Studies have shown that mouth-nose protection can also contain aerosols. In principle, everyone should keep the most important hygiene rules again and again: washing hands, keeping a distance, wearing mouth and nose protection and paying attention to the cough and sneeze labels. This can minimize the risk of infection. Ventilation and good air circulation are also an important issue. If you carry out these measures consistently, you can also limit the spread of aerosols.

Thank you for the interview, Prof. Addo!

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