Saudi Arabia completes clinical trial of MERS vaccine

The King Abdullah International Medical Research Center at the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, in cooperation with Oxford University, has recently concluded phase one of the first Saudi clinical study conducted to determine the safety and immunogenicity of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus vaccine.

The process began with the development of the vaccine for MERS through cooperation between the research center team and Oxford University in 2015. The vaccine was tested in the laboratory and then on mice that demonstrated the immunity and effectiveness of the vaccine, after which it was transferred for testing in the Kingdom where the virus has been endemic since its discovery in 2012.

The joint research team analyzed and tested the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of the vaccine to be used for immunizing camels against the MERS virus in a nearly two-year study. The results were published in November in the international scientific journal The Lancet, where the results concluded that the vaccine is safe and provides strong immunity.