Researchers have reported a milestone in the use of artificial intelligence for medicine: a coronavirus vaccine candidate whose core component was designed entirely with AI has passed an early human safety trial for the first time.
According to a team led by the University of Cambridge, the vaccine’s main antigen was generated with the help of AI. The goal was not only to protect against the current virus but to build defenses against coronaviruses that could emerge in the future.
Results from the first trial
The initial human trial enrolled 39 volunteers. The researchers say the vaccine proved safe and produced a strong immune response in the body.
Notably, the protection was not limited to the virus that causes COVID-19. The team reports that the vaccine also generated immune responses against SARS and against coronaviruses found in bats that have the potential to spread to humans in the future.
A “universal” approach
Conventional vaccines usually target a single specific virus or a narrow set of its variants. This project aims instead to create a broad antigen capable of protecting against a wide range of viruses in the same family.
In the study, the vaccine was delivered not with a needle but through a specialized jet injection device, a change that could alter how vaccination is carried out in the future.
What comes next
The next stage is a Phase 2 trial involving more than 200 people. That phase will test whether the approach can provide effective and durable protection on a larger scale.
The researchers say the same AI-based design technology could be used in the future to develop vaccines against influenza, Ebola and other dangerous diseases. If the trials succeed, they argue, it could become possible to develop vaccines against new outbreaks in weeks or months rather than years, with AI at the center of that shift. These are the researchers’ projections, and the technology still has to clear later-stage trials before any such vaccine could be approved for use.
