The Mirror|An experiment will see brave volunteers being paid £3,500 to be infected with a form of coronavirus in a bid to find a vaccine.
A willing and able few will have to live in quarantine in a laboratory in east London where they will be infected with two common – but much less serious – strains of the virus that has killed over 3,500 people worldwide so far.
Hvivo, the company which owns the laboratory at Queen Mary BioEnterprises Innovation Centre at Whitechapel in east London, will infect batches of 24 volunteers with the 0C43 and 229E strains of the virus.
These are thought to cause very mild respiratory symptoms and are far less serious than the killer Covid-19 rampaging through the world currently.
However, it is thought a vaccine that can combat these smaller bigs, could take on the killer coronavirus bringing an end to the global panic.
Volunteers will be held in isolation for two weeks, and will not be able to exercise or have physical contact with other people. Their diet will also be restricted. The most effective drugs and vaccines will then be used on real patients.
Nurses and doctors involved will need to wear protective clothing and ventilators while working in the lab and taking nasal swabs, doing blood tests and collecting any dirty tissues infected with the virus.
Hvivo’s plans will have to be agreed by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency before testing can begin, which is aimed at finding effective new viruses and antiviral medications in a contained environment.
The experiment is part of a $2bn (£1.53bn) worldwide race to find a vaccine for the deadly virus, particularly for the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.
The reward for finding the vaccine is particularly appealing, and likely to be much higher than the €1.9bn (£1.6bn) French drugmaker Sanofi made from selling huge numbers of flu vaccine last year.
Hvivo’s experiment has attracted the attention of Chinese pharmaceuticals firms, who will be ploughing money into the study.
Cathal Friel, executive chairman of Hvivo’s parent company, Open Orphan, said it placed the company at the “forefront of the fight against the outbreak”.