[T3rminator]

Australia's first locally made COVID-19 mRNA vaccine candidate is set for clinical trials
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-...ster/100229294

Australia is within months of clinical trials for a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine developed in Melbourne.

Victoria's Acting Premier James Merlino announced on Sunday his government had allocated $5 million from a $50 million mRNA research fund to help the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences manufacture doses of its mRNA vaccine candidate for trials.

"This is an incredibly important, incredibly exciting step that we are making in our nation," Mr Merlino said.

"This will get us on a pathway to local manufacturing capability."

Mr Merlino said the investment in sovereign capability to produce mRNA vaccines was particularly important because the virus would remain for some time and there could be the need for yearly booster vaccines in the years ahead.

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When will the clinical trials start?

Professor Pouton said the trials should start in October or November and would run until all the data was collected for a year.

"But we'll get an early indication of safety and the responses, the serum responses, from individual patients, fairly early on in the trial," Professor Pouton said.

"Perhaps within the first three months, we'll have a pretty good idea"

About 150 people will be involved in the clinical trial, with preliminary results expected to be available in the first half of 2022.