Covid-19 Challenge Models

Coronaviridae are a family of viruses that frequently cause mild illnesses, such as the common cold, in all age groups. Recently
emergent strains, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) have been associated with more severe disease, especially in vulnerable populations. In December 2019, a new betacoronavirus was identified as the cause of an atypical disease outbreak that originated in the Wuhan district of China.

This new virus, named ‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome COronaVirus 2’ (SARS-CoV-2), was highly transmissible, leading to an epicentre of infectious disease in Europe by early 2020. The disease caused by the virus came to be known as ‘COronaVIrus Disease 2019’ (COVID-19). In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. The
COVID-19 pandemic has led to a series of rolling lockdowns around the world and caused over 500M infections and 6M deaths.

Although a large number of COVID vaccines and treatments are currently approved for the control of COVID-19 disease, the
imperative is for vaccines that prevent transmission as well as for novel, highly effective therapeutics in hospitalised patients. The relentless progression of new variants from Alpha to BA.4 has highlighted this need for new drugs and vaccines.

The COVID-19 challenge model

As the global leader in Human Challenge Trials, we performed the World’s first COVID-19 human challenge trial in 2021.

We have since developed and can offer Wuhan, Delta and Omicron strains of SARS-CoV-2 for Human Challenge Modelling, allowing for estimations of efficacy for new vaccines and therapeutics against a broad diversity of COVID strains as measured by qRT-PCR, TCID50 and symptoms.