Human challenge trial cleared

Signoff on ethical grounds enables study on UK volunteers given virus

Volunteers will be intentionally exposed to the novel coronavirus in the United Kingdom as part of a method of testing potential COVID-19 vaccines.

An ethics committee at the UK Health Research Authority has given the green light for so-called human challenge studies in which participants will be infected with the virus and then receive candidate vaccines to test treatment efficacy.

The ethical approval comes after the UK government signed a contract in October with biotechnology company Open Orphan, whose subsidiary hVIVO will run the studies at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust's specialist clinical research unit.