Unair's Red And White Vaccine Enters Preclinical Trials Using Macaques Primates

Unair Chancellor Prof. M Nasih. (Photo: Willy Irawan/Antara)

JAKARTA - The Red and White Vaccine of Universitas Airlangga (Unair) Surabaya platform entered the second stage of preclinical trials using macaque animals after completing the first stage of preclinical trials with good results.

Unair Chancellor Prof. Mohammad Nasih explained that Unair researchers had difficulties when entering the second stage of preclinical trials, because they did not have a special BSL-3 cage as the location for their animal tests.

He said that the BSL-3 cage is very important in vaccine preclinical trials.

The cage is specially designed so that the animals cannot interact with each other.

With this condition, the condition of animals tested with vaccine injections can be monitored carefully without being contaminated by the influence of other animals.

"We have BSL-3, but contact can occur between one macaque to another so it is not used. What we use is an isolated cage in one place," he said as quoted by Antara, Friday, June 11.

"Fortunately, Unair's current partner, PT Biotis, is able to provide BSL-3 cages as needed by researchers," said Prof. Nasih added.

Phase two preclinical trials can be continued, and about 10-15 macaques have received injections of candidate vaccines to see their reactions and effectiveness.

"Thank God my friends at Biotis have prepared BSL3 with isolated cages from one another," he said.

Nasih said, in the second stage of the Red and White vaccine preclinical test, his party needed 30 macaque animals.

He targets that phase two can be completed soon so that in August or September it can enter the stage of direct clinical trials on humans.

"Hopefully it can still go according to the schedule that has been set," he said.